I know, I know, I know. Trust me, I know. His unhelpful performance in 2000, his consistent hawkishness on Iraq, 2008.. I know. He deserves it for many reasons. The comments about Obama? Condoning some of the comments about Obama? Yeah, Joe's guilty of blindly supporting his friend. In the end, that's what it was. Lieberman is good friends with McCain and Graham. They are also two Republicans that could prove immensely useful. In the end, the party most-offended by Lieberman has made his position known. I'll follow the lead of the President-Elect.
It's time for Democrats to govern, and Barack Obama has made clear his vision of government. McCain and Graham will be important partners on some of the things that Obama wants to get done. Granted, we have plenty of votes in the Senate and plenty of good people on our side. Yet we need more than that. Even if we had 62 seats, it's always good to have some Republicans on your side. Like the two that just flew to Chicago to sit down with President-Elect Obama. There are a lot of things that we need to get through, especially immigration and energy.
Joe Lieberman and the other two "amigos" will be important allies within the Senate. President-Elect Obama will need every possible ally there if he wants to do the things he has promised. There are a lot of things. God knows that. However, what appealed to me the most about President-Elect Obama was his temperament. Always cool, rarely rash. Focused on results. Fan of Abe Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. I, like many of you, would like to see Lieberman get what he deserves. Yet the moment is too urgent to worry about political payback against a fellow American. If Lieberman prevails tomorrow, he knows he owes it to the guy who didn't hold a grudge- the guy that's going to be the President of the United States of America.