Cardin: the anti-Lieberman?

There are increased efforts afoot to push the Senate Democrat Steering Committee, of which Barbara Mikulski is a member, to strip Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman of his committee assignments for his recent transgressions against the party that nominated him for vice president in 2000.

Yet it's unlikely to expect an action like that until the Senatorial math expands their majority, so what are vexed Dems supposed to do about it?

Simple: have other members of the caucus push Lieberman out of the hawkish-defender-of-Israel Democrat role that he has fashioned for himself.

It's what Senators Ben Cardin and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) are doing today at the National Jewish Democratic Council, knocking John McCain for not being tough enough on Iran.

The questions now are how willingly Cardin embraces the role as the response to Lieberman, whether he can keep up with the more-media savvy Senator and whether the media takes him seriously.