Readers who don’t live in Connecticut may not fully understand why Holy Joe Lieberman was abandoned by Democratic voters in the 2006 primary, forcing him to run as an “independent” whom the Republicans enthusiastically sent to Washington in the general, having recognized a soul brother when they saw one.

This particular Connecticut Democrat would have voted for a corrupt right-wing Republican pedophile with Mafia connections rather than for Lieberman, and in fact I did. Ezra Klein recalls the details of Lieberman’s treachery:

Lieberman had been nominated to run as Al Gore's vice president. That forced him to decide whether to simultaneously run for Senate as well. If he won both, then he'd become veep, his Senate seat would go unfilled, and the Republican governor would appoint a Republican replacement. If he bowed out of the Senate race, attorney general Richard Blumenthal — the same guy who's running to replace Dodd — would have stepped in to replace Lieberman.

Lieberman decided to run for both simultaneously, maximizing the potential that he would have an elected position the following November, but not that the Democratic Party would hold the seat. It's odd that Dodd's behavior here is uncommon enough to warrant praise. If these guys care about the agenda they're representing, whether they or someone who votes just like them occupies the seat doesn't really matter, while handing it to someone who will vote against their agenda matters quite a lot. But then, the Senate is an odd place.