Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-independent from Connecticut, was allowed to keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee after a Democratic Caucus vote on Tuesday despite his support for Senator John McCain in the presidential campaign.
The Senators, including Sen. Jeff Bingaman, debated a resolution that rebuked Lieberman for some of the actions and statements he made during the presidential campaign.
Senators did vote to strip Lieberman of his leadership position on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
New Mexico's soon to be Senior Senator Jeff Bingaman voted "Yes" on the measure. We received this statement from Sen. Bingaman late this afternoon.
I voted for that resolution, and I believe its adoption was an appropriate outcome. It also has the benefit of allowing the caucus to move forward on preparing for our legislative priorities as well as planning to help the new president advance his agenda. With Sen. Lieberman remaining as a member of the Democratic caucus, we are one vote closer to having a 60-vote threshold required to pass legislation and get things done for the country.
Meanwhile, Matthew Reichbach at the New Mexico Independent is reporting that Senator-Elect Tom Udall, who won't be sworn in as a U.S. Senator until January 6th, was allowed to speak in favor of retaining Lieberman.Several Democratic Party bloggers, including our pals at Democracy for New Mexico were not pleased with either Bingaman or Udall's decision. DFNM writes, "Bad start Mr. Udall. Trying to get brownie points from the seniority bosses even before you're sworn in? Not a good sign."
Another disappointed party loyalist commented on Democracy for New Mexico:
We sent a bunch of Democrats to Congress in 2006. They said that there weren't enough of them and the President was a Republican. We sent more democrats this time an we gave them a democratic President. They still have excuses.UPDATE: #1: Reichbach, at NMI, reports that DNC Chairman Howard Dean has backed the Senator's decision.We cannot afford to give up hope. We have to take names and vote ONLY for those who vote for our issues. That includes Senator Udall.
Do you have an opinion? Send us your thoughts by typing a comment on this post or emailing me at Peter [at] 770kkob.com.
2 comments:
Bingaman rebuked Lieberman like Bingaman earned respect...in other words, not at all.
What I really liked from all of the online carping today was that somehow Tom Udall was using this vote to suck up to his "superiors," or her was coerced into voting the way he did. Not the idea that he was actually voting his conscious and decided on his own to vote for Lieberman's continued presence in the caucus.
No, according to them Udall is so easily swayed by "power" that he felt he had no choice but to do what the party bosses say. (and who are these party bosses, we wonders... Dean? Reid? No, I believe they both wanted to give Lieberman the axe.)
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