On the evening of Tuesday, November 4th, Sen. Joe Lieberman must have watched his friend John McCain’s concession speech with chagrin.  Aside from the disappointment of losing and the inherent devaluation of a year’s worth of hard work and travel, Joe had to know that he would soon face a day of reckoning with his Senate Democratic colleagues.  Lieberman worked hard to attain his Chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee, which plays a preeminent role in doling out domestic security dollars – and the threat of losing such a post, if not being kicked out of the Democratic caucus completely, must have been imposing. 

Due to his long history with the caucus, though, Lieberman must have also known that as long as he couched his return in the compassionate rhetoric of forgiveness and reconciliation, he’d probably survive  – much to the chagrin of the denizens of the liberal blogosphere, who were adamant in their demand for Joe’s scalp.  Despite the fact that a secret ballot vote protected any of Lieberman’s friends from allegations of backstabbing, Senate Democrats still voted to forgive Lieberman’s treason yesterday without hardly any punishment at all.

From a practical standpoint, the episode means that Senator Lieberman is assured to be an integral cog of the Democratic juggernaut for the next two years, rather than a speed bump underneath it.  It means that with every “discovery” of votes in Minnesota and the provision of an answer to the “Will Obama campaign in Georgia for Jim Martin?” question, the Democratic stranglehold on the Senate will tighten, and they can do it without the fear of a Jim Jeffords in 2001 situation.

Some Senators are making the arithmetic case for keeping Lieberman while others are going with the ‘prodigal son’ argument, but the Democratic caucus’ behavior surely says something about the desire for unchecked power.  The Presidential vote – instinctively seen by millions as the most important vote a person can cast – is the Crown Jewel for American political parties.  Across the country, there are millions of people who participate only in Presidential elections – and some people vote exclusively for the office of the Presidency.  It is a closely held, often emotional vote. 

Joe Lieberman went against all of that to vote and campaign against the Democratic Party’s candidate, and they still let him go on as though it was no big deal.  It is an act of remarkably rational, logical, and fully justifiable institutional cowardice.  In it, though, lays the foundation upon which future Republicans will base their successes: Democrats who will jettison their principles when it suits them to achieve more power. 

After two tough election cycles where voters punished the GOP for choosing power over principles, hopefully we’ve learned our lesson enough to start capitalizing on it.