Joseph Lieberman appears to be trying to exercise the most political clout today, knowing that in less than two years he will be irrelevant. Currently Democrats need this former-Democrat to vote with them to maintain control of the Senate. This allows Lieberman to make threats as Editor and Publisher report appear in the upcoming edition of Time:
Lieberman calls jumping to the Republican side, and tilting the Senate, “a remote possibility,” which means there’s at least a chance of that. Time seems to push Lieberman in this direction, as the article concludes: “Lieberman’s GOP flirtation has its risks–and a time limit….The longer he waits to capitalize on his moment, the greater the danger that he’ll be tagged as one of those politicians for whom having power is more important than using it.”
Politico has more:
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut told the Politico Thursday that he has no immediate plans to switch parties, but suggested Democratic opposition to funding the war in Iraq might change his mind…
“I have no desire to change parties,” Lieberman said in a telephone interview. “If that ever happens, it is because I feel the majority of Democrats have gone in a direction that I don’t feel comfortable with.”
Asked whether that hasn’t already happened with Iraq, Lieberman said: “We will see how that plays out in the coming months,” specifically how the party approaches the issue of continued funding for the war.
He suggested, however, that the forthcoming showdown over new funding could be a deciding factor that would lure him to the Republican Party.
“I hope we don’t get to that point,” Lieberman said. “That’s about all I will say on it today. That would hurt.”
This contradicts previoius statements from Lieberman such as this in this interview in New York Magazine in August 2006:
Lieberman thinks of going independent as a pragmatic ploy, not an abandonment of his party. “I’ve been a Democrat for 40 years, I’ll die a Democrat, I’ll probably be a Democrat after my death, I may still be voting Democrat in some cities in Connecticut postmortem,” he jokes.
I think that Lieberman just wants to throw out this possibility from time to time to attempt to maximize his current political power. If he were to change parties, he’d be just another pro-war Republican that nobody would care about anymore. Republicans would no longer need to try to recruit him, and would’t be very willing to work with him on many other issues. Lincoln Chafee could explain to him what happens to those who run as Republicans in the northeast.
Update: Political Insider reports that even if Lieberman changed parties, Democrats would retain control of the Senate.
Update II: History News Network also argues that a Lieberman flip wouldn’t give Republicans control of the Senate.