Rumors are floating around the Joe Lieberman is either going to become the new Secretary of Defense…

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hosted Sen. Joe Lieberman for a breakfast meeting Thursday amid speculation that the Connecticut Democrat could be in line to succeed him.

Lieberman, who has emerged as President Bush’s staunchest Democratic defender on the Iraq war, has bucked his party and been a vocal advocate for Bush’s Iraq policies.

He was tight-lipped about the 7:30 a.m. meeting with Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

..or finally leave his party (before he gets pushed out).

It’s time for Joe to go.

Connecticut Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s Nov. 29 Wall Street Journal op-ed praising American progress in Iraq is exactly what Democrats trying to unseat incumbent Republicans don’t need. And all the political capital that his party has accumulated from President Bush’s missteps in the beleaguered Middle Eastern country – forget about it.

At a time when Democrats need to present a unified front, for better or worse, Lieberman decided to unilaterally issue an “A” grade to the Bush administration and muddle the Democratic message all the more.

Drudge is reporting the NY Times will have an article out tomorrow on a Lieberman change of party. That would be historic! The Democrat nominee for VP switching parties while the President he challenged and lost to is still in office.

Boy, will the Kos and DU be fun to read if THAT happened!.

Will Update this post if something breaks. But Lieberman did stir up a hornet’s nest. Here is a Washington Post article:

Five years ago, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman was one of President Bush’s arch political rivals. Now many in his party complain that he sounds more like Bush’s running mate.

The Connecticut Democrat’s strong public defense of Bush’s handling of the Iraq war has provided the White House with an invaluable rejoinder to intensifying criticism from other Democrats. In public statements and a newspaper column, Lieberman has argued that Bush has a strategy for victory in Iraq, has dismissed calls for the president to set a timetable for troop withdrawal, and has warned that it would be a “colossal mistake” for the Democratic leadership to “lose its will” at this critical point in the war.

UPDATE:

Is it all hype? Here is a just breaking NY Times article:

Five years after running as the vice-presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket and a year after his own presidential bid, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut has become an increasingly unwelcome figure within his party, with some Democrats seeing him more as a wayward son than a favorite son.

In the last few days, the senator has riled Democratic activists and politicians here and in his home state with his vigorous defense of President Bush’s handling of the Iraq war at a time some Democrats are pressuring the administration to begin a withdrawal.

Mr. Lieberman particularly infuriated his colleagues when he pointed out at a conference here that President Bush would be commander in chief for three more years and that “it’s time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that.”
…
An aide to another leading Democratic senator who insisted on anonymity said the feelings toward Mr. Lieberman could be summed up as, “The American people want to hold George Bush accountable for the failed policy in Iraq, and Senator Lieberman doesn’t.”

Mr. Lieberman is aware of the hornet’s nest he has stirred.

“Some Democrats said I was being a traitor,” he said in an interview on Friday, adding that he was not surprised by the reaction, “given the depth of feeling about the war.”
…
Concerns about Mr. Lieberman’s coziness with the administration grew this week when he had breakfast with Mr. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. Later, rumors spread that Mr. Bush was considering asking Mr. Lieberman to join the administration to succeed Mr. Rumsfeld next year as defense secretary.

“It’s a total fantasy,” Mr. Lieberman said. “There’s just no truth to it.”

Well, that only knocks out the Sec Def position.

Mr. Lieberman faces trouble in other quarters in his home state. Although few elected Democrats would criticize him publicly, several Democratic activists promised retaliation at the polls.

Maybe the dems already forced him out?

Drudge now reports: “NYT PAGE ONE SATURDAY: LIEBERMAN ON THE OUTS WITH DEM PARTY… “

Did I see a slight change in the wording?