Lieberman Stays

Joe Lieberman escaped with his political hide intact after today’s Senate Democratic Caucus meeting.  He stays in the caucus, and he keeps his chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, a prestigious committee assignment.

From the Washington Post piece (linked above)

“This was done in a spirit of reconciliation,” Lieberman told reporters after the meeting.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said that “Joe Lieberman is a Democrat. He’s part of this caucus.”

The deal was negotiated by Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), as well as Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). The Democratic caucus voted 42-13 to accept it.

And, of course, President-elect Obama said that he thought Lieberman should stay.

Lieberman said that he’s grateful:

LIEBERMAN: Senator Reid asked me to relinquish my seat on the Environment Committee. In the spirit of cooperation and in part to make room for freshmen senators, new senators who wanted to be on that committee, I said I would, in the spirit of cooperation, do that. […]

Incidentally, Senator Reid will be imposing a new rule in light — that is, we’ll be applying a rule that exists in the Senate but hasn’t been in light of the new members, the larger Democratic Caucus, which is that each member can only be the chairman of one full committee and the chairman of one subcommittee.

So in that regard I am very grateful to continue as chairman of Homeland Security and of the Airland Subcommittee of Armed Services, which overseas all Army and Air Force programs.

He should be grateful.  He should show a lot more gratitude toward Harry Reid and Barack Obama personally as well. 

He fully deserved being kicked out of the caucus.  He certainly deserved to lose his committee gavel.  You don’t campaign for your party’s presidential rival and say the things that Lieberman said and not expect some sanction.  As I said, he fully deserved being thrown out of the caucus.  (Maybe Senate Democrats are hoping that Connecticut voters will take care of the problem in four years — although voters’ memories are notoriously short.)  Instead he escapes with what amounts to twenty lashes with a wet noodle on his wrist.  He should thank the president-elect (and those deal-brokering senators) a thousand times over for being magnanimous.

It’s a shrewd move, politically, to allow Lieberman to stay in the caucus.  Obama campaigned on a platform of a new kind of politics — a post-partisan politics.  This was his first opportunity to show that this is really how he intends to govern, and he didn’t let the opportunity pass.  What better way to show that he means what he said?

All that said, I completely understand the ire of many Democrats.  I share it.  I would have liked to see some real consequences for Lieberman’s actions.  I don’t think that there’s anyone less deserving of saving (politically) than Joe Lieberman.  Obama is showing grace; the definition of which (in this context) is showing mercy to someone who doesn’t deserve it.  It’s not weakness; it’s showing grace.