Worm Turning?

Joe Lieberman is maybe starting to lose some support on Capitol Hill. Byron Dorgan called his actions unacceptable over the weekend. And one of the Senators making calls on his behalf, Tom Carper, thinks something needs to be done.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a close ally of Sen. Joe Lieberman, said the Connecticut Independent should pay a price for his campaign attacks against President-elect Barack Obama.

"There need to be consequences, and they cannot be insignificant," Carper said in a Monday interview with The Hill.

I wouldn't put a lot into this. The vote tomorrow will be by secret ballot and it will be difficult after the fact to extract any sort of consequences from those who vote for him to retain the Homeland Security Committee. There are a few willing to make public statements, but most have clammed up, and I expect tomorrow to see a lot of go-along to get-along from Senate Democrats. And after the vote, there will be a lot of calls for calm, that the issue is a settled matter and we now must move forward with the new agenda. And you'll be more hard pressed to find a Senator who voted to keep Lieberman in charge of the committee than an African-American who voted for McCain. I agree with Josh Orton that it makes policy sense to put a Homeland Security Committee chair who actually seems to care about fulfilling his responsibility, but that's not how this will be decided. It's a political play and Senate Dems don't seem willing to expel anyone from their little club. It would be too nasty and partisan.