Romney's third-party dance with Manchin spills into view

• Romney, one of the most high-profile Republican critics of former President Trump, told Coppins that he sought a party that promoted centrist policies. Its working slogan: "Stop the stupid."
• "We'd say, 'This party's going to endorse whichever party's nominee isn't stupid,'" Romney told Coppins in the sprawling excerpt published Wednesday.

Zoom in: Romney told Coppins that he was not ready to leave politics entirely, but felt like there wasn't a place for him in today's GOP.

• "A very large portion of my party really doesn't believe in the Constitution," he told Coppins a few months after Jan. 6.

The big picture: The former Massachusetts governor announced Wednesday that he would not seek a second term in the Senate, saying that "it's time for a new generation of leaders."

• Romney has opposed efforts by No Labels, a centrist group, to put forward an independent candidate in 2024. "I lobby continuously that it would only elect Trump," he told the Washington Post, which first reported his decision.

• Romney told the Post that he has spoken "many times" to Manchin, who has publicly flirted with a possible third-party presidential bid.

What to watch: Manchin told the Huffington Post that Romney's retirement from the Senate "won't affect my decision" for 2024 at all. "It'll just make me very sad."

• Manchin said he and Romney have had "an awful lot of different conversations."
• Asked about conversations for a new party, Manchin said: "That's just what they were, conversations."

Go deeper: Joe Manchin fires back against 2024 spoiler label