With the election over and Democrats now positioning themselves for chaiperson’s roles in Senate and House committees. Joe Lieberman wants to make sure his independant run and victory against Ned Lamont, doesn’t leave him out in the cold.

With the Democratic takeover of the Senate, Lieberman is in line to become chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

In a post-election news conference, Lieberman said he was reassured by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid that he would retain his seniority when the new Senate convenes.

Article here.

The question now becomes: Can he be trusted with those committees? For many Democrats, Lieberman is a DINO (Democrat in name only) and has been closer to the Bush administration than fellow Democrats. With the recent election clearly showing dissatisfaction with the Bush administration and it’s failed policies, it could be a risky venture on Senator Reid’s part to trust Lieberman with such responsibilities, especially on security matters where Lieberman has been such a strong ally of the Bush administration.
On the other hand, there is this: With a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate for the Democrats, the battle for Lieberman’s soul as it were is on. Republicans are largely responsible for his re-election and have thus staked a claim. Democrats want him to remain (officially at least) in their column and shutting Joe out would in all liklihood convince him to make his leap to the darkside complete.
So I ask the BH readers: Should Reid let Lieberman keep his seniority and run those committees or risk losing him all together to the Republicans? For my part, I don’t envy Reids position but I think he is doing the right thing and Democrats have to bite the bullet and mend fences with Lieberman. To do anything else could cost them majority power.