What is Holy Joe's case exactly for continuing to caucus with the Dems/hold onto his chairmanship? [View All]

[Proud Liberal Dem]

He just spent the last (nearly) year holding hands with and stumping for McCain/Palin, attacking Obama, speaking at the RNC, and, when faced with losing his committee chairmanship because of his aforementioned actions during this past election, he is now threatening to go all the way over to the "other side" of the aisle and possibly join with the Repukes.

So, what exactly is he telling Obama, Reid, Bayh, et. al that seems to be working (so far) to get them wavering about ousting him from his chairmanship?

If he's threatening to leave us and (officially) become a Repuke if he loses his chairmanship then how can we honestly trust him to refrain from utilizing his chairmanship as a platform to attack Obama and/or help Repukes attack Obama.

Will we be able to count on him to help us defeat the inevitable filibusters that are sure to be coming our way in the new Congress?

I know that we can't count on his support for any war-related initiatives but what Democratic initiatives WILL Holy Joe be supporting us on?

Now, don't get me wrong but I don't think of Holy Joe quite as negatively as Zell Miller (2004) and his decision to support McCain doesn't bother me half as much as the fact that he actively campaigned on his and Palin's behalf but if I were Reid, I'd want some SERIOUS assurances about where his loyalties will lie in the next Congress if he is to hold on to his chairmanship. I know Holy Joe is technically an "independent" but if Reid et. al want to allow him to maintain a particularly important chairmanship I'd want to know that he is going to maintain some semblance of loyalty and commitment to the ideals of the Democratic Party and not act as a mouthpiece (or pitbull-without lipstick) for the Repukes (and if he is he might as well switch over now).