Tension trails Lieberman back to Washington

By Lisa Mascaro (contact)

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Washington — What is the Senate majority leader to do with renegade Sen. Joseph Lieberman?

Washington has been in knots this week over the status of Lieberman, the independent Democrat, who infuriated his Democratic colleagues with a speech critical of their presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, at the Republican National Convention.

Would Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid strip Lieberman of his committee chairmanship? Should he? Or should Reid try to keep Lieberman in the Democratic fold, and protect his majority in the Senate, in the face of potential overtures from Republicans for Lieberman to switch parties?

The drama hit a high note Tuesday afternoon when a Capitol Hill newspaper reported that Lieberman was kicked out of the Democrats’ weekly policy luncheon.

Reid’s office immediately called the report untrue.

“While it is no secret that the Democratic caucus is disappointed in Sen. Lieberman’s attacks on Sen. Obama,” Reid’s spokesman said, Lieberman “has chosen to not attend Democratic caucus lunches, and that is his choice.”

Lieberman’s aides said the senator has often stepped aside when the lunch meetings turn to policy or strategy, adding that he may join again in the future.

And so the controversy that has bedeviled Democrats since Lieberman endorsed Sen. John McCain for president late last year continues to smolder.

Reid stood by Lieberman after the Connecticut senator won reelection as an independent in 2006, following a primary challenge from the left by anti-war newcomer Ned Lamont.

When Lieberman returned to the Senate, referring to himself as an “independent Democrat,” he agreed to caucus with Democrats, helping to tilt Reid’s slim majority 51-49 in the party’s favor.

Reid gave Lieberman the chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the caucus welcomed him to the weekly policy luncheons — though Lieberman steps out when issues of Iraq and, increasingly, political strategy, are discussed.

Lieberman’s relationship with the party, strained by his involvement with the McCain campaign, was more tense after his speech.

As the Republican convention got off to a slow start in St. Paul, Minn., Lieberman delivered one of the first bombshells of the week when he stepped up to the podium Tuesday night.

“Sen. Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man,” Lieberman began, “but eloquence is not a substitute for a record.”

Then came the money line: “In the Senate he has not reached across party lines to get anything significant done, nor has he been willing to take on power interest groups in the Democratic Party,” Lieberman said.

Democrats were not pleased.

Reid was not pleased.

Reid’s spokesman told CNN that the senator was “very disappointed” in the speech. Reid was particularly upset with the portrayal of Obama’s record — one of the Illinois senator’s first acts in the new Congress in 2007 was passage of a sweeping, bipartisan ethics reform bill.

The next day, Reid’s spokesman said Lieberman’s status would be reviewed after the fall elections.

Aides on the Hill said Tuesday they doubted there would be any move by either party to shake up Lieberman’s status before fall. Reid needs Lieberman to keep the majority in the Senate. And few thought Reid would antagonize Lieberman by threatening to reprimand him by removing him from his chairmanship.

Likewise, aides see no serious courting of Lieberman by Republican leadership to switch sides. With just 3 1/2 weeks left in the congressional session, there would have to be a great political appetite to take on the legislative logistics required to change majority status in the Senate.

After the election, the story will be different.

Democrats are expected to expand their majority in the Senate. Politico reported Tuesday that if Democrats add four or five seats, Lieberman could lose his chairmanship.

Meanwhile, Reid said he was done discussing Lieberman until after the election.

“We’re going to have an election on Nov. 4. Unless something changes, things will continue as they have been,” he told reporters Tuesday.

“I’ve talked enough about Sen. Lieberman,” Reid added, noting that he had not spoken to Lieberman about any potential change to his chairmanship status and “won’t until after the election.”

Lisa Mascaro can be reached at (202) 662-7436 or at lisa.mascaro@lasvegassun.com.