Lieberman Awaits Democratic Caucus Vote

By: Vaughn Ververs
Topics: The Senate

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, the man who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, will soon know whether that party will allow him to continue to serve as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee or whether he'll be stripped of that position.

Lieberman, who changed his party affiliation to run as an independent in 2006 after losing the Democratic primary, has organized with Democrats since winning re-election and in doing so, gave the party its majority status. Lieberman also served as one of the most enthusiastic and high-profile supporters of Republican John McCain's presidential campaign and spoke at the GOP convention, something that has infuriated many in his former party.

With Democrats having picked up an additional six Senate seats in the election (with three races yet to be decided), Lieberman's value to the party has decreased substantially. They no longer need his vote to claim a majority and plenty of party faithful would like to see him stripped of his committee chairmanship for backing McCain. So Senate Democrats tomorrow will vote, by secret ballot, on whether to do just that, the Hartford Courant reports.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has in the past been very supportive of trying to keep Lieberman in the caucus but others have strong feelings going the opposite direction. Sen. Bernie Sanders, another independent who sides with Democrats, told the AP that "to reward Sen. Lieberman with a major committee chairmanship would be a slap in the face of millions of Americans who worked tirelessly for Barack Obama and who want to see real change in our country. Appointing someone to a major post who led the opposition to everything we are fighting for is not 'change we can believe in."

Still others, like Indiana's Evan Bayh, told Fox News he doesn't believe "retribution or revenge is in the best interest of anyone," even though he has said Lieberman should apologize to his former party. Will Lieberman remain a party of a party which he supports on most all issues or would he be tempted to join a Republican caucus in which he would be an ideologically poor fit on just about everything but the war in Iraq? Or would he become effectively a party of one? Tomorrow's vote will go a long way towards determining the answer.

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by jswilliams451 November 18, 2008 9:18 AM EST: Lieberman is a double-agent for Israel. God only knows what secret intelligence data he has shared with them that he wasn''t supposed too. Or wasn''t authorized to share.

He''s a security risk and should be treated as such.; Reply to this comment


by trishab56 November 18, 2008 8:17 AM EST: -LIEberman needs to be shipped to Jerusalem Knesset. He belongs there, not Washington. End of it!

-He is the guardian of the loyalty of the Washington institutions to the AIPAC and Israel. Hence the conflict of Interests, Israel''s interest need to be protected even at Washington''s interests expense... no matter what!

-For the balance of policies, he tends toward Democratic values.

-Labor Party (now Kadima) in Knesset would fit his urgent needs.; Reply to this comment


by sjbj2322 November 18, 2008 1:12 AM EST: rtwhet....Spare the sympathy for Lieberman. He made his bed and should rightly be forced to lie in it. No one twisted his arm to make the decisions he''s made. He is and always has been an opportunist. Personally, I think HE should have done the right thing and stepped down possibly opening the door for Bernie Sanders to take his place. Why should Bernie''s loyalty - not just to the party but to the platform not be rewarded. I''m sure the GOP can find someplace to stick Joe.; Reply to this comment


by metsobitso November 17, 2008 8:18 PM EST: Lieberman is a Judas who has acted as a double agent, and tried to play both sides when it suited him. He has always been more an agent for Israel than for the United States. Flush on this one.; Reply to this comment


by gtttrades November 17, 2008 7:12 PM EST: Weaselman sold his soul to the republican party to keep his cushyass senate seat. They should throw him out and let him join the repuks.; Reply to this comment


by mattcat25 November 17, 2008 6:01 PM EST: This shouldn%u2019t be a significant decision by the Democrats. Joe Lieberman has made his own choices and that%u2019s to be a Republican. To allow Lieberman to continue in an ambiguous and vague manner of duplicity between the two parties would be disadvantageous for both.

Joe Lieberman was rejected by the Democratic Party in his state because of his consistent support of President Bush%u2019s Policies. Lieberman chose to go against the wishes (again) of the Democratic Party by splitting the vote and running his own independent campaign and has acted as is a Republican and should shed the facade.

Senator Lieberman needs to commit himself to either the Democrats, Republicans, or as a truly independent entity in both ideology and policy.

The decision is (has been) entirely up to Joe Lieberman.; Reply to this comment


by rtwhet November 17, 2008 5:41 PM EST: It is pretty sad the way the democratic caucus is treating lieberman, he has made some big decisions about his political loyalty, and I think that they should just let him go without prolonging it and making it harder for him.; Reply to this comment