Analyzing Lieberman's Threat

October 27, 2009

Analyzing Lieberman's Threat

Senate Democratic aides tell Political Wire that too much is being made of Sen. Joe Lieberman's declaration that he would back a Republican filibuster of health care reform legislation. They think he's just jockeying for influence and may even be there for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid when needed.

Lieberman said he may vote for cloture to bring the bill to the Senate floor. Once there, he will likely back efforts to strip the public option from the bill through an amendment.

First Read: "Right now Lieberman's with Reid. Reid needs a first down. And Lieberman's with Reid for that first down. Reid doesn't have enough votes quite yet for that first down, but Lieberman's with him -- for now."

While Reid needs 60 votes to get the bill to the Senate floor for debate, The Hill says his ultimate strategy uses "a controversial legislative tactic called reconciliation that could require only a simple majority of 50 votes for final passage. That would allow the chamber's Democratic centrists to support the party on procedural votes and still vote against the final product."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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October 27, 2009