Lieberman May Caucus With Senate GOP
Having Angered Democrats, McCain Supporting Connecticut Independent May Lose Top Role On Senate Committee
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Play CBS Video Video What About Lieberman? Conn. Sen. Joe Lieberman faces the possible loss of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee after backing John McCain over President-Elect Obama.
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Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. makes a statement on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008, after meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. (AP)
Lieberman's affiliation with Democrats is up in the air. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, angered by Lieberman's support of Republican John McCain for president, is considering yanking Lieberman's chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as punishment.
Lieberman and Reid met Thursday to discuss Lieberman's options, including possible committee and subcommittee posts for him. Those talks are ongoing.
A Lieberman aide, who requested anonymity because the talks are confidential, said Friday that Lieberman and McConnell, R-Ky., have spoken in recent days about the possibility of Lieberman joining the GOP conference. McConnell spokesman Don Stewart would only confirm that the two men have had recent discussions.
Lieberman was Democrat Al Gore's vice presidential running mate eight years ago. He became an independent after he failed to win the Democratic Senate primary in Connecticut in 2006. Lieberman won the general election as an independent but is still registered as a Democrat.
Although he caucuses with Senate Democrats, Lieberman angered Democrats by criticizing Barack Obama during the presidential race.
Since 2006, Democrats had tolerated Lieberman's political straddling because he gave them a 51-49 majority by being part of their caucus. With Democrats tightening their hold on the Senate to at least 55 seats in Tuesday's election, Lieberman no longer plays that role.
Lieberman aligned himself with McCain and President Bush on the war in Iraq but tended to vote with Democrats on most domestic issues.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."





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See all 51 CommentsSo, his only hope was a big appointment in a McCain cabinet.
Sorry Joe. You need to be pitched from the Democratic caucus. And I feel not one iota of regret about it. As they say, if you want to run with the big dogs, you can expect to get pissed on the head!
Yes Joe Liarman did promise his constituents that although he was independant, he would never go the Republican Party.
He also promised the Democratic Party that although he supported McCain, he would not trash Obama. Liarman is not under scrutiny because he supported McCain, it''s that he went around trashing Obama and campaigning for McCain.
When Liarman was up for election in Connecticut, guess who went out campaigning for him??? Barack Obama.
Liarman is one two faced shady cat.
The GOP can have him!
The GOP deserve and can have him!
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Posted by kansas1946 at 08:23 PM : Nov 07, 2008
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It would seem to me that by this definition he is true independent just as you are. Plus I find it nauseating how you alleged independents think that because one supports a party they are stepford wives.
Its a bunch of baloney and btw how do independents organize the congress. Do independents help elect people or do they just sit on the sidelines and attack anyone who tries and fails
I thought reid was magnanimous in allowing Lieberman a subcommittee chairmanship. Lieberman take your medicine
LOYALTY.
A virtue absent from Joe Lieberman.
He should fit in well with the "win at any cost" Neo-republican Party.
Why are you trotting out those tired old lies? The election is over. Your candidate lost. The scare tactics didn''t work because voters were a lot more scared at the thought of another four years of Bush/Republican policies than they were of a candidate who spent two years in a public school that offered religious classes for Muslim students. CNN and other news sources debunked the "madrassa" story almost as soon as it aired. The other two of the "formative years" he spent in Indonesia, he attended a Catholic school.
Obama is trying to reach across party lines. The current economic situation requires all Americans to work cooperatively. Bigots and whiners have nothing to offer if we''re going to successfully clean up the mess left by Bush and complicit Republicans.
If Lieberman was a Republican and had actively supported the Democratic candidate, the Republican leadership would have stripped him of his chairmanship.
Harry Reid, on the other hand, hems and haws and talks about the "concerns" of his members.
If Democrats want to grow a pair, they should start by dumping Reid, Pelosi, and weenieman Steny Hoyer.
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