In discussions about Joe Lieberman, people talk about whether he’ll “caucus with” the Democrats or the Republicans.
What does that mean? Just to vote with? I think it must mean something else since it looks like a Senator can vote against his party yet still be “caucussing with” his party. For example, Joe Lieberman.
-FrL-
Simple as that. While you can vote against your own party do so enough and they will kick you out of their caucus. A lot of business gets done in there along with the ability to affect policy, get on committees and so on. A politician does not want to be on the outside of that.
Joe Lieberman was not elected as a Democrat, he’s an independent. But there’s no Independent New England Rogue Yankee Party, so for the purpose of things like determining majorities and committee assignments, he works with the Democrats. Think of it like a parliamentary coalition where he’s in a party of one dude.
The caucuses determine which party officially counts as the majority party and which is the minority, which determines things like who gets to be President Pro Tem and who’s on what comittees. Currently, the official Senate makeup is 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and 2 independants, but both independents (Lieberman and Barry Sanders of Vermont) chose to count as Democrats for purpose of the caucus, so it’s effectively 51D-49R, and the Dems just barely have the majority (if Lieberman or any other senator had officially switched to the Republicans, it’d be 50-50, and Cheney would break the tie).