Evan Bayh, lying to us last November:
If [Lieberman] does retain his chairmanship, we still exert oversight over him and control over him. He doesn't have the ability to just do whatever he wants. The caucus still has the right to remove him from that position at any time if he starts going off on some kind of tangent.
All this talk of "exert[ing] oversight over him and control" was rightfully laughed at. And good thing we didn't believe him, because Dodd today gives us the reality of the matter:
But Lieberman’s fellow Connecticut senator, Democrat Chris Dodd, who faces a tough reelection fight in 2010, dismissed the idea that Lieberman would incur any retribution.
“No, no, no. People are going to be all over the place,” he said when asked if Lieberman should be punished. “The idea that people are going to be reprimanded because somehow they have a different point of view than someone else is ridiculous. That isn’t going to happen.”
Ridiculous? So Bayh was being ridiculous when he talked of oversight and control? Sure, I know he was, and you know he was, but it's interesting seeing Dodd openly admit it. Yes, Senate Dems are a ridiculous bunch.
But this isn't a post about Senate Dem hypocrisy and spinelessness, or their "abused puppy" impersonation. That stuff is self-evident.
This is about Chris Dodd's reelection battle.
Our September polling had Dodd losing to former GOP Rep. Rob Simmons, 42-46. A Q-poll from that same period had Simmons winning 44-39, and the 2010 Connecticut Senate race tops the list of endangered Senate seats by most election observers.
We also know 2010 will be a base election. If Connecticut Democrats decide they don't want to turn out, then Dodd is toast. His path to victory requires strong Democratic turnout.
And I can guarantee that there's no better way to dampen support for any Democrat than to get Joe Lieberman's back -- especially when Lieberman is in the middle of one of his patented hissy fits.
Dodd has been doing well on substantive matters (like his strong support for the public option), so it's a bit annoying seeing him take an unnecessary hit in order to defend that ungrateful ass. Because, as we all know, it's only a matter of time before Lieberman hits the campaign trail for Rob Simmons.