Lieberman In Control
Harry Reid has started making nice with Joe Lieberman because he knows without Joe He gets to be the Senate minority leader again. Joe should really do lunch with Bill Frist a few times in the next couple of months, just to keep the backstabber on his toes.
Joe, because of 18 years with the Democrats and the seniority it brings, is going to caucus with them; but that doesn't mean he's going to be their best friend in the body. In fact, he's probably going to be a major pain on some issues, like Iraq.
With yesterday's rash of ideas from both old and newly elected Democrats on how they'd like to Cut and Run from Iraq, and Pelosi announcing that the founder of the Cut and Run Coalition, John Murtha is her choice for House Majority Leader, Joe is now a controlling seat on Iraq policy.
There won't be any surprises from the House, with Murtha and Pelosi in charge, they'll scream retreat two days after they are sworn in as the new leaders. But the Senate is going to be a tougher go to get anything through with only a bare majority, and the deciding vote in that group against running.
Could Lieberman, based on the backstabbing he took in the election, decide to caucus with the GOP if he feels the new leadership is going too dovish on Iraq? Yes, but he won't without a sweet deal from the GOP leadership that wouldn't sit well with their rank and file. Instead, he'll take his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee and use it to try and be the guy working across party lines on both national security issues, and Iraq.
Politics does make strange bedfellows, six years ago Lieberman was trying everything he could to keep George Bush out of office, now he's likely to be the guy to save Bush's tail on both Iraq and the Homeland Security Department.
Technorati Tags: Lieberman, Reid, Pelosi, Murtha, Congress, Iraq, Homeland Security
Joe, because of 18 years with the Democrats and the seniority it brings, is going to caucus with them; but that doesn't mean he's going to be their best friend in the body. In fact, he's probably going to be a major pain on some issues, like Iraq.
With yesterday's rash of ideas from both old and newly elected Democrats on how they'd like to Cut and Run from Iraq, and Pelosi announcing that the founder of the Cut and Run Coalition, John Murtha is her choice for House Majority Leader, Joe is now a controlling seat on Iraq policy.
There won't be any surprises from the House, with Murtha and Pelosi in charge, they'll scream retreat two days after they are sworn in as the new leaders. But the Senate is going to be a tougher go to get anything through with only a bare majority, and the deciding vote in that group against running.
Could Lieberman, based on the backstabbing he took in the election, decide to caucus with the GOP if he feels the new leadership is going too dovish on Iraq? Yes, but he won't without a sweet deal from the GOP leadership that wouldn't sit well with their rank and file. Instead, he'll take his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee and use it to try and be the guy working across party lines on both national security issues, and Iraq.
Politics does make strange bedfellows, six years ago Lieberman was trying everything he could to keep George Bush out of office, now he's likely to be the guy to save Bush's tail on both Iraq and the Homeland Security Department.
Technorati Tags: Lieberman, Reid, Pelosi, Murtha, Congress, Iraq, Homeland Security
posted by Crazy Politico at 6:10 AM
2Comments:
Joe will end up caucusing with the Dems. Other than wanting the U.S. to win the war, he is not in line with the Republicans on any issue. A decade ago, before he ever hooked up to run with Gore, he was actually fairly moderate for a Dem. But in 2000 he abandoned several positions in order to be acceptable to the rest of the party.
Here is an idea, he (and Sanders) could be truly independent.
Bill, great idea, but it won't happen. Unfortunately, the way the Senate and House have set up their rules it's a 2 party system. Everyone has to caucus with one of the two parties so their is a majority.
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