Joe Lieberman took an active part in Senate Republican strategy sessions last week and helped craft some of the tactics used in defeating the Democrats’ Iraq withdrawal bill, CQ’s David Nather reports.
Lieberman has taken his alliance with GOP leaders up a notch. During the abortive debate on the defense authorization bill, he attended daily tactical sessions to help them plan their strategy for combatting anti-war amendments and their rhetorical points for use against the Democrats. And in a fitting symbolic twist, some of those meetings convened just down the hall from the office of Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who essentially owes his 51-seat majority to Lieberman’s continued caucusing with the Democrats.
Given that the primary reason Lieberman is no longer a Democrat is his contrary position on the war, this isn’t incredibly shocking. Still, he’s ostensibly an “Independent Democrat” and part of his former party’s coalition. We’ll see whether this is a one-off on Lieberman’s main issue or part of a full-on shift toward the GOP.
