Which Way, Joe?

PSoTD asks :

Will Joe Lieberman support the Republican candidate for President in 2008, reasons why or why not, and what’s the political value to him?

Hmmm…. my answer right now would be, “It depends.”

Lieberman — who will still have four years left on his term when Candidate X is sworn in — faces some tough choices:

If he supports the Republican candidate, and if the Democrats gain the WH and sizable majorities in Congress — as expected — then Lieberman’s support of a Republican will see him lose all the perks that accompanied his so-called “caucusing” with the Dems – namely the chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Assuming those gains, Joe will be stripped of what power he has by the Democrats, and we all know Joe isn’t about to be relegated to the back of the pack, below even the freshman Dems.

On the other hand, if things come down to a horse race in the Senate, supporting the Republican candidate for President could work out for him. By agreeing to caucus with them, he gains access to all those rich Republican donors and gets to keep his committee assignments — just as he did when he agreed to support the Democratic Party’s agenda.

My prognostication right now is that Joe will play his “centrist” card for the next year in order to position himself as the “elder statesman” who’s thinking of “what’s best for the nation” while garnering plenty of blog mentions, column inches, and air time in which to undercut the Democrats. His goal will be to prevent sizable wins by the Dems, while simultaneously pretending to be one.

Whichever party looks to gain the most power in August/September 2008 will be Joe’s BFFs for life.