Lieberman Survives
So reports Kagro X over at dKos.
Post what you read or hear in comments.
EDIT: The Hill reports the vote was 42-13.
UPDATE 2:From Steve Benen:
Second, let’s pause to appreciate just how smart Lieberman is. In this case, I don’t mean that as a compliment. It was inconceivable that if Obama won in a veritable landslide, while the Senate Democratic caucus grew by (at least) six seats, that Lieberman would not only get off scot-free, but would also be in a position to dictate to Democrats, without any leverage at all, which outcomes he found “unacceptable.” If someone had predicted this scenario to me a month ago, I could have found it ridiculous. And yet, here we are.
Josh Marshall had a post back in June explaining, even before some of Lieberman’s most outrageous conduct, that Lieberman was burning bridges that couldn’t be rebuilt. “My assumption is that after the November election, regardless of the outcome of the presidential campaign, Joe will be stripped of his chairmanship,” Josh said. I agreed wholeheartedly at the time. It was a no-brainer.
Except, it wasn’t. Lieberman knows Senate Democrats better than Democratic voters do. My friend Matt told me via email yesterday, “If Lieberman ends up keeping his gavel on Homeland Security, I think we need to stop for a moment and recognize him as the smartest politician in Washington. He will have correctly made a bet about the fortitude of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate and he will have been right, against all apparent odds.”
Exactly. This is a decision about long-term management, not partisanship.
UPDATE 3: Jane Hamsher at FDL says:
Asked what it would mean if Lieberman kept his chairmanship, one Senate Democratic aide said bluntly: “The left has been foiled again. They can rant and rage but they still do not put the fear into folks to actually change their votes. Their influence would be in question.”
I hope this puts to rest the notion that this is all some master stroke of kumbayah, of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.
This is about telling you that you mean nothing. That democracy is a nice word, but it should never threaten the entitlement of the most exclusive club in the world.
No matter what Joe Lieberman does, the people who are protecting him hate you much more than they hate him.
This is abit over the top, but does point out that this body is more conservative (and more navel-gazing) than folks give them credit for, and won’t be less so with their new additions. And does point out that all of the folks that helped to give them more control over that body than they’ve had for years are quite expendable.
Tags: Lieberman
Told ya beyatches, told ya. 😉
This is what Obama is talking about.
Is there anything as worthless and pitiful as the Senate Dem caucus?
Is there anything as worthless and pitiful as the Senate Dem caucus?
Yeah, the RNC.
Let’s all call Tom Carper and tell him what we think. (202) 224-2441
I plan on using four letter words.
X, seriously, the reason why Lieberman is staying is because Obama wanted him to. Bitch all you want, but this is the Change we got. Deal with it. 😉
I’m calling him.
And there will be a time — multiple times, actually — where we’ll have plenty of occasion to trace failure of some key piece of legislation to Lieberman AND to the fact that Reid won’t be able to control his caucus.
Boo, hiss.
OK, Reid needs to be ousted as majority leader. But really, what a spineless group of Democrats. Are they so afraid of a bad press clipping that they have to keep a Republican as head of the Homeland Security Committee? I guess we’ll get at least 2 more years of Lieberman-led uselessness out of that committee.
Now is not the time to let up. If anything, Obama is only a slightly center-left Democrat (with Reid and Pelosi) (and Clinton, I might add). He does not represent Wellstone’s Democratic wing of the Democratic party.
Our challenge is to keep the repubs crushed while mounting winning primary challenges from the left to these comfy incumbents.
We still haven’t crashed the gates.
CARPER! A THOUSAND CURSES UPON YOUR FOUL NAME!!!!!!!!!!
The voters must resolve this. The caucus won’t. It’s the same sort of thing that is happening in our own Delaware Senate over Open Government.
If we keep sending them they’ll keep doing it. The people of Connecticut were given a very good choice and they blew it. The people in the 19th Delaware Senate district keep sending Adams.
We get the government we deserve.
I called, too. No four-letter words, just a seven-letter one: primary.
Carper is disgusting. Anybody care to guess how “Delaware’s Joe Biden” voted?
Hey Rebecca, don’t be such a moron. FOIA has very little to do with Thurman Adams alone and much to do with the Senate Democratic caucus. Adams takes the heat because his brain-dead constituency will continue to vote for him. Remove Adams and exactly nothing will change. On his own he can barely tie his own shoes.