Lieberman Dodges Bullet For Backing McCain

Sen. Joe Lieberman will keep his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee despite hard feelings over his support for GOP nominee John McCain during the presidential campaign.

The Connecticut independent will lose a post on the Environment and Public Works panel as punishment for criticizing Obama this fall.

Lieberman's colleagues in the Democratic caucus voted 42-13 Tuesday to approve a resolution condemning statements made by Lieberman during the campaign but allowing him to keep the Homeland Security Committee gavel.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he had been very angry about Lieberman's actions but that "we're looking forward, we're not looking back."

Added Reid: "This was not a time for retribution, it was a time for moving forward on the problems of this country."

Lieberman's grasp on his chairmanship had gotten stronger since President-elect Barack Obama signaled to Democratic leaders that he's not interested in punishing Lieberman for boosting McCain and criticizing the Democratic nominee during the long campaign.

"This is the beginning of a new chapter, and I know that my colleagues in the Senate Democratic Caucus were moved not only by the kind words that Senator Reid said about my longtime record, but by the appeal from President-elect Obama himself that the nation now unite to confront our very serious problems," Lieberman said after the vote.

"This vote will anger many progressives and party faithful who felt Lieberman's support of the Republican nominee was tantamount to party treason," said CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs. "But while it may have been tempting to punish him for his transgression, it's also a nod to reality."

"The Connecticut senator has remained a reliable Democratic vote on most issues outside of some national security matters since becoming an independent and is still one that the party will need to pass some major legislation in the coming four years. President-elect Obama's support for him keeping his chairmanship was reflective of that."

Anger toward Lieberman seems to have softened since Election Day, and Democrats didn't want to drive him from the Democratic caucus by taking away his chairmanship, and as a result send the wrong signals as Mr. Obama takes office on a pledge to unite the country. Lieberman had indicated it would be unacceptable for him to lose his chairmanship.

Lieberman, who was Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore's running mate in 2000, was re-elected in 2006 as an independent after losing his state's Democratic primary to Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont amid intense anti-war sentiment. Lieberman is a strong supporter of the war.

One senator, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private, said Lieberman spoke openly about the rejection he faced in 2006, when many Democrats supported his opponent during the Connecticut Senate race.

"He spoke earnestly of the pain he felt when he was rejected by the Democratic Party in his re-election and in turn, the rejection he felt from many in the caucus who campaigned against him after decades and decades of friendship," the lawmaker said. "And that put him in a very different place approaching the 2008 election and John McCain was the only candidate for president who asked for his support."

The senator added: "He apologized for crossing the line in a few instances."

He remains a registered Democrat and aligns with the party inside the Senate, where he supports the party position on most issues other than the war.

But Lieberman angered colleagues by signing onto McCain's campaign, touring the country on McCain's campaign plane and speaking on his behalf at the GOP convention in September. Democrats were particularly upset that he had attacked Mr. Obama rather than simply saying positive things about McCain.

"There are some (statements) that I made that I wish I had not," Lieberman told reporters. "In the heat of campaigns, that happens to all of us, but I regret that. And now it's time to move on."

"It's time to unite our country," said Lieberman supporter Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said upon entering the meeting.

Salazar added afterwards: "It was very clear people want Senator Lieberman to be part of the caucus."

"I was concerned and was upset about what happened earlier this year," Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said on "Fox News Sunday." "But you know what? We turn the page."

On the other side were senators who feel that one requirement to be installed in a leadership position is party loyalty.

Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Pat Leahy, D-Vt., spoke against allowing Lieberman keep the Homeland Security and Government Affairs post. Reid, Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and John Kerry, D-Mass., were among those speaking in his favor, according to a Democratic aide, who spoke anonymously to discuss a private meeting.

Some, like Iowan Tom Harkin, still harbor hard feelings for statements Lieberman made during the campaign. Harkin took particular offense when Lieberman said a vote against funding the war in Iraq without a deadline for a troop withdrawal meant Mr. Obama had voted to cut off funding for troops in harm's way.

"That's outrageous, what he said," Harkin complained.

"To reward Senator 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," Sanders said in a statement on Friday. "Appointing someone to a major post who led the opposition to everything we are fighting for is not 'change we can believe in.'"