The only way that the whole Lieberman fiasco can possibly be partially justified is if it results in the Democrats having an extra seat on every committee in the Senate. I say ‘partially’ because Lieberman could have sustained harsher punishment (like the loss of his Armed Services subcommittee chair) and still stayed in the caucus. One little piece of food for thought…if the Democrats run the table on the elections in Alaska (probable), Minnesota (iffy), and Georgia (doubtful), they will have 60 members in their caucus and they’ll be able to organize the Senate any old way they want. It will be that organizational vote that sets committee strengths that will be the real pay-off for accepting Lieberman back into the fold. As for filibusters, we still need to convince Ben Nelson, among others, to vote like a Democrat.
Open Thread
