That’s right. It seems Lieberman played a crucial role in talking several Republicans off the ledge, thereby vindicating President Obama’s refusal to be vindictive toward the Connecticut Senator, who had some nasty things to say about Obama and Democrats in general during the presidential campaign. Lieberman has always been a moderate-progressive on economic issues so his vote should not be a surprise–but his active lobbying for the bill has to be considered directly attributable to the grace with which Obama treated him. Those who wonder about the President’s efforts to be nice to Republicans–a singularly ungracious lot, cult-like in their devotion to failed economic policies past–should bear this particular example in mind as we go forward.