“There’s just a lot of jockeying going on here for all kinds of positions from a few people that are using their position right now to maybe extract other things, to get other things done,” Harkin said Thursday morning on a conference call with reporters.

Earlier this week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) suggested that he would support a Republican filibuster if the final Senate bill contains a public option.

“As I said before, when it comes down to getting the 60 votes necessary to pass this bill, I do not believe that Joe Lieberman would want to be the one person who caucuses with the Democrats … to bring this bill down. I don’t think he wants to go down in history like that,” Harkin said.

“He still wants to be a part of the Democratic Party although he is a registered independent. He wants to caucus with us and, of course, he enjoys his chairmanship of the [Homeland Security] committee because of the indulgence of the Democratic Caucus. So, I’m sure all of those things will cross his mind before the final vote.”

Sen. Tom Harkin met with supporters at a pre-election rally in Cedar Rapids.

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, while predicting national Democrats would pick up seven seats in the U.S. Senate, was in a forgiving mood toward Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

“[Lieberman] happens to be a friend of mine,” Harkin said during a pre-election rally in Cedar Rapids Sunday evening. “I happen to like Joe very much. But, I suppose, there has to be some discipline. We can’t have someone going off and doing things like Joe has done.”

Lieberman, who has caucused with the Senate Democrats since being re-elected to his Senate seat as an Independent, actively supported the presidential bid of Arizona Sen. John McCain and vice presidential bid of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Lieberman lost the Democratic primary for his seat in 2006 — largely due to his support for the Iraq War — and the former Democratic vice presidential nominee has been playing both sides of the political aisle ever since. In September he was a much lauded speaker at the Republican National Convention where he harshly criticized the Democratic ticket.

“[Whether or not Lieberman continues to caucus with the Democrats] is something to be decided later on,” Harkin said. “I don’t want to get into that right now, although it is something that will need to be decided. … But, you know, sometimes it is better to forgive and forget. Quit dwelling in the past. Leave the past behind us. Let’s look to the future. And, in that case, maybe Joe will stay with us in the Democratic caucus. We just don’t know yet.”

Sen. Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat who serves as Senate Majority Leader, announced that he would be speaking with Lieberman in the days following the election to discuss the matter. Since that announcement, most U.S. Senators have remained mute on the topic and have taken a wait and see approach.

Lieberman was able to retain his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee largely because he, along with Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, caucused with the Democrats and helped the group maintain a thin 51-49 majority. Lieberman has also voted with the Democrats on most issues. The main exception to that rule of thumb has been legislation concerning the Iraq War. As a part of the gentleman’s agreement between Reid and Lieberman, the Connecticut Senator does not attend party meetings when war policy is the primary topic.

With six seats in the can for the Democratic majority, as well as three others remaining up for grabs, it could be that Lieberman won’t be the hot commodity he has been.

“Well, if we discount Joe Lieberman and we pick up seven seats, that would give us 57 Democratic Senators,” Harkin contemplated prior to Tuesday’s election. “You need 60 to break a filibuster. What I’m telling you is that there are always five or six or seven moderate Republicans who will vote with us to break a filibuster.”

According to Harkin, there have been 90 filibusters in the past two years.

“On any one of those, in which we’ve had a vote, we’ve always gotten four or five Republicans who don’t want to plug things up,” he said. “So, we don’t need 60 because there are enough moderate Republicans who will work with us to get the job done.”

The new make-up of the Senate combined with the fact that Vice President-elect Joe Biden will break any tie votes definitely benefits the Democratic caucus, but that configuration won’t take place until January. Until then, if the Democrats press too much, Lieberman could decide to leave the caucus which would place the Senate in a 50-50 split with current Vice President Dick Cheney casting the tie-breaking vote.

In further paradox, Lieberman, while publicly supporting the McCain-Palin ticket, has made significant monetary contributions toward the election of Democrats. As the Washington Post reports, Lieberman gave Biden $5,000 to help retire the Delaware Senator’s campaign debt. He also provided more than $145,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and $5,000 each to Colorado Democratic U.S. House candidate Mark Udall and Virginia Gov. Mark Warner.

Hours after Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was announced as president-elect, Lieberman issued his congratulations.

“America remains a nation of extraordinary opportunity and the American people are a people of extraordinary fairness,” Lieberman said in the prepared statement. “Now that the election is over, it is time to put partisan considerations aside and come together as a nation to solve the difficult challenges we face and make our blessed land stronger and safer. I pledge to work with President-election Obama and his incoming administration in their efforts to reinvigorate our economy and keep our nation secure and free.”

Lieberman, who lost the Democratic primary for his seat, was elected to another term as an Independent, and usually caucuses with Democrats in the Beltway. McCain and Lieberman, according to Allen, will appear together on the Today show on NBC tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.

The endorsement does little harm to either man. Those who voted to re-send Lieberman to the U.S. Senate did so with an understanding that he was not going to tow either party line. Those who still have McCain on their short list may not see the endorsement as a big win, but it should pull the more moderate, pro-war factions of the parties to give the Arizona Senator a second look.

With very limited research, however, it does appear this endorsement is groundbreaking in that this marks the first time a candidate on one party’s highest ticket has crossed the aisle to endorse an individual from the opposite party, also on the highest ticket.

Skipped the Faux News GOP debate last night; a quick skim tells me Huckabee zinged John Edwards and Rudy zinged Ron Paul.  Some reports from others: