Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) enjoys flirting with the idea of becoming
a Republican, thinking it will put the fear of God in majority leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). It won't
and Lieberman knows it. If Lieberman flips, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will become
majority leader with the help of Vice President Cheney's tie-breaking vote,
but the Democrats who run the committees will continue to do so until
the end of 2008. It says so in the organizing resolution passed in January 2007.
In 2001, when the Senate was split 50-50, the situation was different: the organizing resolution contained
a clause then that said if the majority changed, the organizing resolution
would terminate and a new one would be needed. The one passed at the start
of this Senate session contains no such provision. Read the full story at
Political Insider.
Furthermore, Reid would then be bringing flowers and chocolate to Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
twice a day in an effort to get her to switch too, to nullify Joe's efforts. She is facing a
tough
reelection campaign
in 2008 and is keenly aware of how fellow moderate Republican
from New England, Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), went down to defeat in 2006. She is also aware of how
much of a local hero former Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-VT, I-VT) became when he jumped ship. If she
became an independent aligned with the Democrats (like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)), she would
win reelection easily instead of having a tough fight on her hands. Joe knows this very well
and probably wouldn't want to tempt fate. Even a 50% chance that he would end up as a member of
the minority and much hated by the majority, should give him pause.
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