Lieberman, not so suprisingly, backing Obama

Put this in the everyone-will-think-this-is-surprising-but-it-really-isn’t category (I know, it’s a mouthful). After campaigning furiously against him in the presidential campaign, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) thinks President Obama is doing a good job.

“Bottom line: I think Barack Obama, president of the United States, is off to a very good start,” Lieberman told the Associated Press.

Putting aside whether or not Lieberman actually believes this, there are plenty of political reasons why he would say that. First, Obama continues to ride high approval ratings. Then there is Doug Blumenthal, Connecticut’s ridiculously popular attorney general, who is considering challenging Lieberman in 2012. On top of that, there is polling that suggests that Lieberman is, in fact, vulnerable in the Constitution State, which Obama carried by 23 points last year. And, on top of that, there is Obama’s basically letting Lieberman keep his committee posts despite the senator repeatedly saying Obama was not ready to lead during the campaign.

So, is this still surprising to anyone?

jeremy.jacobs@digital-stage.thehill.com