According to Politico.com
http://www.politico.com/...
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has reached out to Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) about the prospect of joining the Republican Conference, but Lieberman is still bargaining with Democratic leaders to keep his chairmanship, according to Senate aides in both parties.
“Sen. Lieberman’s preference is to stay in the caucus, but he’s going to keep all his options open,” a Lieberman aide said. “McConnell has reached out to him, and at this stage, his position is he wants to remain in the caucus but losing the chairmanship is unacceptable.”
A Republican Senate aide said Friday morning that there was little McConnell could offer in terms of high-ranking committee slots, which is why Lieberman is resisting overtures from the Republican side.
There's one point that Lieberman makes that I can agree with:
Lieberman argued that "he had been a loyal vote on everything except Iraq, gave them the majority [by caucusing with Democrats], had contributed generously to the Democratic Senate campaign committee and voted with the Democrats in greater margins than several of his colleagues over the past two years.”
So I'm a little bit unsure of what I would like to see happen to Lieberman. On the one hand, he is most certainly a democrat when it comes to social issues, women's issues and economic issues. But.....and this is a major point of personal contention with me..can we forgive him for his support of McCain, can we forgive him for the way he personally attacked Barack Obama and can we ever forgive him for that Bush Kiss*?
*
I'm conflicted. Should he stay or should he go? I certainly want him stripped of his chairmanship of Homeland Security. That's a non starter. I don't care if he gets a co-chair position on a less influential committee. It would be a clear demotion and an obviously embarrassing punishment. Here's my conflict. We (Democrats) may need his support on future court appointments and most especially Supreme Court nominations, of which there may be 3 such vacancies to fill and on health care reform.
I know it's easy to throw Lieberman overboard, but sometimes you need to think with your head and not your emotions. Where will we get the most out of Lieberman...we'll get nothing out of him if he crosses the aisle. However, if a deal can be made that ensures that Lieberman always votes with the Democratic side of the aisle, or face immediate expulsion from the caucus, I could go for that scenario. The reason that I can support that scenario is that Obama will have a huge legislative agenda that needs to get passed, especially on the economy and health care, and we need every vote to not only ensure passage, but to move the Obama agenda forward and ensure more democratic pick-ups in 2010.
Lieberman and Senator Reid:
“Essentially there was a very amiable conversation,” said the aide. “They left it that they would continue their conversations. They would talk to people within the caucus and they’d get back to each other in the next few days. Obviously, the caucus is meeting the week after next.”
Lieberman has since been having phone conversations with colleagues, but he has yet to meet with any in person. Most senators are receptive to Lieberman’s argument that allowing him to stay represents the type of unity that President-elect Barack Obama espouses.
On the other hand, there's really no benefit for Lieberman to join the Republican caucus, either. He would never, ever be granted a leadership position since he is completely idealogically unacceptable to most Republicans. So I think that negotiating with him now for that vote assurance would benefit democrats, greatly.
Yes, I would love to see Lieberman thrown to the curb, and publically humiliated, but I think that I'm going to use my head on this one and not my heart..for the benefit of us all.
If Lieberman were to join the Republican conference, however, there’s not much McConnell could offer him. Virtually every ranking position is already spoken for, and Republican senators who have spent years moving up the ranks might not look kindly upon Lieberman leapfrogging them if he switches parties.
What say you?
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