Joe Lieberman, Hero of the Democratic Base 
 
 Well, not exactly. But it will become evident in the post-mortem reporting that the repeal of the ban on gays serving in the military, which cleared its last real hurdle with a 63-33 cloture vote in the Senate this morning, could not have happened without the senior Senator from Connecticut. It was Lieberman who rallied the Republicans needed to clear the 60 vote threshold, working particularly hard to win and keep his close friend Susan Collins of Maine. 
 
 This may confuse those on the left who are more familiar with Lieberman's support for John McCain and Sarah Palin in the 2008 presidential election or his hardline stance on the war in Iraq and counterterrorism than they are with his positions on labor and civil rights dating back to his days as attorney general in Connecticut. But Lieberman's conflicted history with the Democratic party is a rich source of study for those who want to take the time to get beyond the caricature. See these profiles for a start. 
 
 With all that has been written about the overdetermination of national politics by money and special interests, Lieberman is perhaps the best example in the current Senate of the fact that individual character and belief still make an enormous difference, for good or ill, in a body with only 100 members. ||||| Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he's likely to pursue reelection as an Independent, if he decides to run again at all. 
 
 
 
 Lieberman, who was reelected in 2006 as an Independent after having lost his state's Democratic primary, said he hadn't made any decisions about whether to run again, or whether he'd run as a candidate in either party. 
 
 
 
 "I'd say right now if I run again, it's more likely I'll run as an Independent," Lieberman said Friday on MSNBC. 
 
 
 
 The Connecticut senator has caucused with Democrats since beating challengers from both parties in the 2006 general election, though he angered many Democrats by campaigning for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008's presidential election. 
 
 
 
 Since then, Lieberman has faced entreaties from both parties as he mulls his path forward. Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), Senate Democrats' 2012 campaign chief, has made it known that she wants to sit down and talk reelection with Lieberman. 
 
 
 
 But Lieberman said that he hadn't necessarily made the formal decision to seek another term, though he's generally seen as likely to pursue reelection. 
 
 
 
 "I've got a couple of decisions to make, and they're important ones me and my family have to make," he said, adding that the decisions are whether to run again and, if so, how he wants to run. 
 
 
 
 "I guess I'd say all options are open," Lieberman said. He also said he would likely announce his intentions early next year. 
 

– Democrats' love-hate relationship with Joe Lieberman is definitely on the warm and fuzzy side today after his legislative maneuvering to get Don't Ask, Don't Tell repealed. Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-independent who campaigned for John McCain, was all thumbs-ups and smiles after his role in helping secure the necessary Republican votes. “He’s certainly one of my heroes today,” an official with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network tells Politico. "This would have not happened without Sen. Lieberman.” He still hasn't decided (or at least announced) whether he's running for re-election in 2012, and he said Friday that if he does run, it would likely be as an independent, notes the Hill. But if his DADT efforts put Democrats back in his camp, who knows... In the meantime, he's winning praise like this from Massimo Calabresi in Time: "With all that has been written about the overdetermination of national politics by money and special interests, Lieberman is perhaps the best example in the current Senate of the fact that individual character and belief still make an enormous difference, for good or ill, in a body with only 100 members."