Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) is never going to win any popularity contests among his party's liberal base -- a fact he seems decidedly unconcerned about despite his 2006 Democratic primary loss to Ned Lamont.
WTF? D-Conn? I thought we were beyond this! And Lieberman is decidedly unconcerned? Please, he is consumed with getting back at the Democrats because of his loss.
Not only has Lieberman endorsed Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine.) -- one of Democrats' biggest targets in the 2008 cycle -- but he's planning to co-host a fundraiser for her on June 21 in Washington, D.C.
The event, which will be held in a Capitol Hill location still to be determined, will feature Lieberman and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) -- a very rare bipartisan fundraiser. Attendees are being asked to raise $3,000; $2,000 would come in the form of a political action committee donation while the other $1,000 would be a personal contribution, according to an electronic invite for the fundraiser obtained today by The Fix.
"Let's try to make this a bi-partisan tour de force," reads the invite.
Lieberman's willingness to work openly for Collins's reelection will surely not sit well with Democratic strategists who want Rep. Tom Allen (D) to oust the two-term incumbent. For Lieberman, his support of Collins is payback. She was one of a handful of senators who campaigned for him in the general election following his loss in the Democratic primary to Lamont. (He ran for and won reelection as an independent.) Lieberman and Collins also serve together as the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the Senate.
"Democratic strategists" should know Lieberman would do something like this. This is his modus operandi -- sticking shivs into Democrats nationwide as he perpetually relives his 2006 grudges. The only reason he still caucuses with the Democrats is because he can read the tea-leaves. Democrats are well-positioned to expand their Senate majorities in 2008 and 2010, and a party switch would've ensured Lieberman's long-term irrelevance. As is, he relishes being the contrarian on the Democratic side, even if he is now just an indepenent.
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