Maybe the president's decision not to hang him high wasn't such a bad move after all:

With Obama’s economic stimulus plan on life support in the Senate last week, Lieberman (I-Conn.) joined a group led by wavering moderate Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) and helped bring Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) on board to save the bill, which passed Tuesday with just enough votes in the Senate.

By instead keeping him in the Democratic Caucus with just a slap on the wrist, Lieberman has proved to be a loyal vote, supporting all of Obama’s Cabinet nominees, voting for passage on the first two major bills Obama has signed into law and working as an ally on the stimulus bill.  Indeed, Lieberman has broken from his party on just seven of the first 61 votes of the 111th Congress, as the opening weeks of 2009 have been dominated by domestic issues where Lieberman’s views are in line with many Democrats, unlike his hawkish positions on foreign policy.

For now, this appears to be yet another moment where what appears to have once been a tactical mistake by Obama turns out to be a strategic masterstroke.  As usual, the president is playing the long game, an activity the Beltway cannot understand. 

The real test for Lieberman, however, will be on the war-funding votes to come.  One would hope polls this like this would encourage him to reconsider those hawkish positions.

The new poll tests Lieberman as an independent against Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. The numbers: Blumenthal 58%, Lieberman 30%. Yikes.

Lieberman's active campaigning against the Democratic Party last year hasn't won him too many friends back home. Democrats go for Blumenthal by 83%-9%, and independents are for Blumenthal 55%-29%. Lieberman is the de facto Republican nominee in this match, and with GOP voters he scores 67%-23% over Blumenthal.

Lieberman's job approval is also at only 45%, with 48% disapproving. Among Democrats that's a 21%-70% rating, Republicans 75%-20%, while independents give him a narrow approval of 48%-46%.

It's less than four years away, but with numbers like those, I seriously wonder if Joe will even bother to run for re-election again.