Lieberman has a whip team?

[babylonsister]

:grr:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_11/015635.php

LIEBERMAN HAS A WHIP TEAM?.... This is starting to look like a one-sided fight. Over the last several days, I haven't found any Senate Democrats -- literally, not one -- who has argued that Joe Lieberman should lose his committee chairmanship. Even not-for-attribution leaks have only referenced a handful of senators "leaning" in one direction or another.

On the other hand, Lieberman seems to have a whip team on his side.

Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) are all involved in the effort {on Lieberman's behalf}, according to top Senate Democratic aides. These four senators -- along with other Lieberman allies -- are reaching out to the rest of the Democratic Senate caucus to try to ensure Lieberman survives a secret ballot vote on whether to strip him of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

This effort, along with kind words from Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) last night about Lieberman, is giving the Connecticut senator some serious momentum heading into next week's secret vote. Dodd's involvement in saving his home-state senator is an extraordinary turn because Dodd backed Democratic candidate Ned Lamont in 2006 against Lieberman, who won the Connecticut Senate race as an independent.

Also driving the effort to save Lieberman -- an outcast with the progressive left -- is the spirit behind Barack Obama's victory.

"He's got momentum, and we need to keep him in the caucus, and this fits into Barack Obama's message of change and moving forward," said one Senate Democratic aide familiar with discussions. "The message here is that we don't want to start off a new era with retribution."

The report added that Senate Democrats are exploring some kind of "token" punishment for Lieberman, which could include giving him the chairmanship he wants, but losing a different committee assignment.

What's more, Newsweek's Howard Fineman told Keith Olbermann last night that even Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who was reportedly very angry about Lieberman's misconduct, is "now saying he's willing to give Lieberman a chance." Fineman added that he thinks Lieberman will get to keep his committee chairmanship.

They're making a mistake they're likely to regret.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_11/015577.php

-Steve Benen

[Winterblues]

Lieberman ran against Lamont by stating America needs a Democratic President

and He was the better candidate to ensure that happened..Lieberman is an out an out LIAR

[baldguy]

1. Thats more about his private life than I need to know.

[jobycom]

2. Damn. Something is going on here. I've always said Lieberman is one of the shrewdest politicians

I've ever seen, but I think I underestimated him. He's got something going on that we don't know about. Maybe it's a threat to stir up negative feelings about Obama if he's ousted. Maybe he knows enough secrets. Maybe he holds some leverage on a key issue. I don't know, but this isn't random. I expected his fellow senior senators to stay silent on him, maybe even express noncommittal support of him, of the "He's a good guy, but there's a lot of anger at him" sort.

But to get Dodd and Durbin to back him, he's doing something we aren't seeing.

Or maybe everyone is just playing nice, and the stabs will be inflicted in the secret vote. We'll see.

[eleny]

3. Durbin was against him until just the other day

So it sounds to me like Obama and Durbin had a talk.

If I was JL I wouldn't make myself too comfortable after the inauguration. And I'd be sure to be voting the way O wanted me to vote - right down the line. If he's as savvy as you say, then he knows that O is savvier and also holds all the power.

If we have some Republicans breaking and voting with us thus rendering JL unimportant, one false move could have him playing solitaire and Connecticut pays the price of a having one neutered Senator.