Democrats Want Him in Caucus Despite His Backing McCain
By Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 6, 2008
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) was running a few minutes late as he bounded onstage to cheers from environmental activists gathered in a park near the Senate chamber on Monday for a rally promoting climate-change legislation, which he is sponsoring with some of the Senate's staunchest liberals.
"I just said good things about you -- that's a true test," Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) told Lieberman, drawing laughter from a crowd that understood that not many Democrats have nice things to say about Lieberman these days.
Lieberman's outspoken advocacy for John McCain's GOP presidential candidacy crossed a line this week, prompting Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) to corral the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee into pointed face-to-face discussions.
Lieberman went beyond simply promoting McCain's candidacy on Wednesday. He joined a conference call in which Republicans attacked Obama's position on Iran moments after the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee had delivered a foreign policy address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
On Monday, only a day before Obama would claim the delegates to become the Democratic nominee, Lieberman co-hosted an event with deep-pocketed donors who are part of the "McCain 2008 Victory Jewish Coalition" in a ballroom of the Grand Hyatt in Washington. According to one participant, Lieberman took Obama to task for his policies on Iran and Israel during the event, which drew fundraising pledges totaling $2 million for McCain and the Republican National Committee.
Topping all of this on the grievance list some party regulars are compiling on Lieberman is that he is open to taking a prominent speaking role at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., if McCain asks him to do so.
"I'm going to do everything I can to help him get elected. I'm going to do it my way," Lieberman said of McCain in an interview yesterday. "But there will be times when I'll comment, in fairness, on Senator Obama's positions."
All this activity has tied Democrats into knots. The party has a tenuous 51 to 49 advantage in the Senate, and cannot afford to see him caucus with Republicans because, in a 50-50 Senate, Vice President Cheney could cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of the GOP. Unable to punish Lieberman, Democrats publicly say they are just happy to have his vote on key issues, such as this week's legislation aimed at battling global warming.
"Joe Lieberman is an important vote for this caucus," Reid said yesterday, telling reporters that he had a "fruitful" private discussion with Lieberman about his actions.
Reid acknowledged he had no intention of attempting to mete out punishment, such as revoking Lieberman's chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
"We'll let the future decide what it's going to be, but I'm not about to threaten anybody at this point," Reid said.
For now, the only constraint on Lieberman -- who supports McCain's and President Bush's approach to the Iraq war -- is a gentleman's agreement with Reid that he will not attend Democratic caucus meetings when they center on discussions of the war.
Granted anonymity, Senate Democrats whisper that Lieberman's day of reckoning could come next year if Obama wins the White House and Democrats expand their majority enough that they could risk his departure. Under that scenario, several suggested, his chairmanship would at least be contested.
Obama took matters into his own hands on Wednesday when he made a rare appearance on the floor to vote for the Democratic budget bill. Lieberman sought out Obama, patted him on the back and shook his hand.
Obama guided Lieberman to a corner of the chamber, where for three minutes they engaged in an animated conversation that had other senators gawking. No voices were raised, but several times Obama gently put his hand on Lieberman's shoulder, and Lieberman more than once pointed his finger back at Obama.
When it ended, realizing that reporters were leaning over the balcony of the Senate press gallery to watch, Obama put his left arm around Lieberman and the two walked away, smiling.
Lieberman recounted that he began the conversation by telling Obama "I'm proud of you," but he declined to go into detail. "The rest was politics. It started warmly and it ended warmly," he said.
Obama declined to address the discussion, telling reporters Wednesday that it was just about "politics." But his most ardent supporters were happy he went straight after Lieberman.
"I think that was the way it should be -- talk it over with him in terms of what he's going to do and what his role's going to be," said Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.).
None of the talk of retribution and betrayal fazes Lieberman: He said "the post-2006 chapter of my life" has freed him from "tribal partisanship."
After losing the 2006 Democratic senatorial primary to an opponent of the Iraq war, Lieberman won as an independent in the general election, forcefully advocating staying in Iraq and a tougher stance toward Iran.
"Being elected as an independent has encouraged me to do more what is right, rather than worrying about what it means politically in two years or four years," he said.
That has left him free to move from one end of the political spectrum to another, sometimes within a few minutes, joining conservatives on foreign policy votes and liberals on social issues.
At 11 a.m. Wednesday, Lieberman partnered with Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.), a Jewish member of the House GOP leadership, on the conference call hitting Obama on his refusal to support Lieberman's bill declaring Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist group.
Minutes later, Lieberman joined Boxer and environmental activists in Reid's office to discuss strategy for a news conference pushing the global-warming legislation. After the press event, he went to the Senate floor for the budget vote, where Obama buttonholed him -- all in the span of an hour.
He said he will continue to "do what I think is right on each issue," regardless of the consequences next year within the Democratic caucus.
"I remain a Democrat for reasons of principle," he said. "I've been a lifelong Democrat, so I have no desire to leave the party."
View all comments that have been posted about this article.