As soon as I give Democrats kudos...

...I end up wanting to take it back (h/t Avedon).

Ironically, a lawmaker with a good shot of replacing Lieberman atop the Governmental Affairs panel, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), is spearheading the effort within the Senate to preserve Democratic support for Lieberman. Carper is the third most senior Democrat on the panel after Lieberman. But the two Democrats who outrank him, Sens. Carl Levin (Mich.) and Daniel Akaka (Hawaii) are likely to keep their perches as the most senior Democrats on the Armed Services Committee and Veterans Affairs Committee, respectively.

Carper, who like Lieberman often works across the aisle with Republicans, is one of a handful of Democratic centrists who have continued to support Lieberman since his primary defeat. The others include Sen. Ken Salazar (Colo.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).

Looks like the list of "major" Democrats shrinks by the day. I'm almost willing to give a free pass to Ben Nelson since he's from Nebraska and all, but you know what? He could have taken no stance at all...instead he went out of his way to support the de facto GOP nominee. You might live in a conservative state, but occasionally you have to back up Democrats. In a time when the GOP is fracturing into shards, some Democrats go out of their way to get a piece of the fracture action...