Ladies and gentlemen, please reserve your flames and rotten tomatoes while I mention a scenario for which I have little stomach as well; all of the Joe Must Go rants around here have been rather well received and voice a revenge which definitely needs exacting. I even find myself starting to sing along with those tunes as I read along. However, as much as it pains me to state this, the careful song and dance Harry Reid is doing with Joe Lieberman right now has more to do with political practicalities then dishing out some righteous whoop-ass on Traitor Joe. Follow me below the fold so I can flesh out the story that needs to be said.
I will agree, wholeheartedly, that the work that Joe Lieberman did during this Presidential Campaign season was despicable. There are no polite words I can use to demonstrate the contempt I have for the Senator from Connecticut. That being said, I take no great pleasure in pointing out that the political reality that may be faced in the 111th Congress is that Joe Lieberman might still be an important player in Democratic efforts. If you click on the Live Map at the top of the Daily Kos masthead, and then slide over to the Senate tab, you will start to notice that of which I speak.
With three races still to be called in this election cycle, there are 55 Democrats and 2 Independents. If all three of the still-contended races end up in favor of the Democrats, the Senate will potentially have the desired Filibuster-proof majority that will be needed to ensure that the changes desired by President Obama get through this chamber. In other words, if Minnesota ends up sending Senator Franken, Georgia sends Senator Martin and Alaska sends Senator Begich, Senate Majority Leader Reid will need both of the Independent Senators to reach cloture.
Since the Republicans will be forced to play a hard defense with their 40 remaining members in the Senate who, for the most part, are the same players on that team who have shown willingness in the 110th Congress to thwart as many Democratic initiatives as possible. Since the Republicans, on the National stage, have nothing of substance to offer the American Electorate, their only chance of "winning" in the future is to ensure that they can label the 111th Congress as another in a long line of "do-nothing" Democratic Congresses. It is in this light that we, most unfortunately, must entertain the notion that Joe Lieberman still has relevance in the Democratic Senatorial Caucus.
In closing, ladies and gentlemen, it would appear that if all three undecided Senatorial races tip in the direction of the Democrats, Joe Lieberman will still have a role to play in the Democrat's Senate plans -- albeit a less prominent one from recent past. Since elections are supposed to have consequences, since Joementum hitched his trailer to the wrong star, he should have to suffer the consequences of that decision. This is a tenuous path to have to tread, so I don't envy the role that Harry Reid must walk in this situation. However, I believe that Joe Lieberman should be required to surrender at least one of the chairs he now leads, with the threat that if any one of the three races still pending falls to the Republican candidate, he will lose all other privileges of belonging to the Democratic Caucus. What better irony than to have Joementum urging Georgia voters to elect Jim Martin in the run-off against Saxby Chambliss.