Lieberman Awaits Democratic Caucus Vote
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.
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.
Ex-NBA ref Tim Donaghy