It is my belief that the Democratic leadership should strip Lieberman of his Seniority prior to the November election for the political points it will score inside and outside CT. Here's why:
When I worked the CT primary, many Democratic voters told me, "I'm voting for Lieberman b/c his Seniority brings things to CT that Lamont won't be able to do for years." Granted this was Democratic primary voters, but I would nonetheless suspect that a solid crop of Independent voters have this sentiment, along with current Lieberman-Democrats and some Republicans in the state. Stripping him of his seniority eradicates this certain Lieberman advantage.
Symbolically, stripping Lieberman of his seniority will subtly force the 20% of Democratic voters currently siding with him to reconsider supporting a man who is completely ousted from the party both in CT and nationally. At the very least, some will reconsider their loyalty.
Outside of Connecticut the activist base nationally will be fired up with the announcement. Sure, the GOP machine will say "hey look, the Democratic umbrella is too small for Joe Lieberman nationally and thus they are weak on defense." Well guess what, do you think Jon Undecided in Tennessee or Ohio or Missouri or Montana or Virginia gives a crap about that? They don't! It's a non issue. It's abstract and will have no effect on other races. Simple as that.
Lastly, and beyond the politics of all this, Lieberman chairing the Government affairs Panel and protecting Bush during potentially historic investigations that come along every quarter of a century to check our Democracy would be unfortunate to say the least.
What do ya'll think?
Update: I guess my question is why has the Dem Leadership been reluctant to do this or even hint at it for that matter? What is the primary reason?