Word: liebermanically
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...think hell hath no fury like a party scorned, but Democrats aren't kicking Lieberman out of the party - yet. Lieberman has a decent claim of abandonment: after a 2006 Democratic primary challenge over his unyielding support for the war in Iraq, Lieberman won his fourth Senate term as an Independent who caucuses with Democrats. Without his good will there would be no Democratic majority in the Senate, no control of the legislative calendar, no subpoenas and investigations and no committee chairmanships. (Lieberman himself chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.) Harry Reid owes his title to Joe Lieberman...
...Sitting in his Hart Senate Offices, just next door to Obama's suite, Lieberman claims that being forced to run as an Independent in 2006 revolutionized his political outlook. "Let's face it," he says, "the fact that I was elected an Independent liberated me.'" Liberation first manifested itself on legislative issues, like setting a time line to withdraw troops from Iraq and allowing the Bush Administration to wiretap without warrants, where he flexed the fact that he was beholden to no party. It became unmistakable as the 2008 race for the White House took shape and Lieberman openly endorsed...
...Still, every time the former vice presidential nominee praises John McCain and criticizes Barack Obama, steam rises from his colleagues. "I'm not going to pull my punches or hold back," says Lieberman. "To me I'm doing just what they do, maybe something less than some of them are doing because I think they've attacked John [McCain] in ways that I don't appreciate. I'm just doing what they're doing for their candidate; it happens that I'm supporting a Republican...
...long as Democrats need him to hold on to power, Lieberman realizes that comments like these make him untouchable. "Without him we would not be in the majority," says Dick Durbin, the second highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate. "He votes with us on virtually every issue except for the war and, of course, his support for Senator McCain. There is disappointment, for sure, and many people have expressed concern about his role, but he's going to have to make that decision...
...Back in December 2007, when Lieberman endorsed McCain, the Arizona Senator seemed like a long shot for the nomination. "My wife teased me," says Lieberman. "She said, 'There you go getting yourself into trouble again, but I guess the reassuring thing is the McCain campaign is going to be over soon so you won't have to carry on.'" Now Lieberman is raising money and campaigning for the presumptive nominee, and has said he would even speak at the Republican National Convention if asked. (He would not, however, accept a vice presidential nomination or a cabinet position.) "I've made...