Carper did not rule out stripping Lieberman of his coveted gavel running the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, or imposing other sanctions like taking away seniority on other committees or a subcommittee on Armed Services.
Carper said he and three other Senate Democrats have been making phone calls to "take the temperature of our caucus." He said the purpose of the calls was not to lobby senators for any particular action for or against Lieberman, but "just to see where people's hearts and their minds are."
Carper said that "many of my colleagues ... are very angry with his criticism of Sen. Obama," but he would not say which sanctions he prefers.
If tom Carper is wavering, then Lieberman could be in serious trouble tomorrow. For Tom Carper to be undecided on this vote is, in electoral terms, the equivalent of Georgia being a toss-up in the presidential campaign. If Lieberman is struggling to win a member of what should be his base voters, then we should be on a path to win this thing.
Then again, commenters have noted that every Senate office they call is claiming to be undecided on the Lieberman vote. So, rather than Carper's public indecision being a sign of Lieberman in trouble, perhaps this is simply a vote where almost no one in the Senate wants to tell the public where they stand. Either way, give one last call to your Democratic Senators, and help push them over the edge. Even though it's late, it's OK to leave a message. They will still hear it before the vote tomorrow.
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