November 6th, 2008at 09:06pm Posted by Eli

Hopefully Joe is about to learn that actions have consequences:

Bolstered by a newly expanded majority, Harry Reid met with Joe Lieberman on Thursday to sketch out the conditions by which the Connecticut independent could continue to caucus with Senate Democrats. But Lieberman did not accept Reid’s initial offers, leaving his future in the caucus uncertain, and potentially setting off a campaign to pressure the Democratic steering committee to decide Lieberman’s fate. Reid offered Lieberman a deal to step down as chairman of the homeland security committee but take over the reins of another subcommittee, likely overseeing economic or small business issues officials said. Immediately after his meeting with Reid, Lieberman told reporters that he had not made a decision about his future in the caucus, and appeared to launch his first public appeal to members of the Democratic steering committee, whose members decide committee chair assignments. “I completely agree with President-elect Obama that we must now unite to get our economy going again and to keep the American people safe. that is exactly what I intend to do with my colleagues here in the Senate in support of our new president, and those are the standards I will use in considering the options that I have before me,” Lieberman told reporters.

Joe The Warmonger seems to think that he’s got some kind of negotiating leverage here, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what it is. The Democrats already have a very comfortable majority, so they don’t need him at all for control of the Senate.

It’s possible that if all the remaining unsettled Senate races break Democratic, that Lieberman would represent the 60th vote for busting Republican filibusters… except that he’s already declared himself in favor of them. (Which is ironic considering that he voted against the Alito filibuster, but we’ll just pretend we’ve forgotten about that.)

I just don’t understand what a guy who habitually betrays his party when they need him the most can offer that the Democratic leadership could find compelling. What’s he going to do, threaten to vote with the Republicans?

Personally, I think Reid is letting him off easy if he just strips him of his homeland security chair – he should kick him completely off all committees (if that’s even possible) and let him go crawling to see what he can get from Mitch. Why should a Republican vote count towards a committee’s Democratic total?

Entry Filed under: Democrats,Elections,Lieberman,McCain,Politics,Republicans,Wankers