Joe Lieberman has been, for all intents and purposes, forgiven by Chris Dodd and the Senate leadership for his little foray over to the dark side in 2007-08.

Of course, Lieberman wants to have it both ways, and he continues to call himself an “Independent Democrat”. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a party designation or simply an expression of what a wild and unpredictable “free-thinker” Lieberman fancies himself to be.

Using his video expertise, Bob put together footage from Sen. Dodd’s appearance on Face the State with tape of Joe Lieberman stumping for McCain:

Below is how I imagine things went on the day that Joe Lieberman decided that he wanted to rejoin the Democratic Party:

*Knock-knock*

Sen. Chris Dodd: Who’s there?

Sen. Joe Lieberman: Why, it’s Independent Democrat Joe Lieberman. I plan to endorse you in 2010, won’t you let me in?

Sen. Chris Dodd: Sure!

What I have trouble illustrating with words above is that it seems that Senator Dodd could not open the door fast enough.

Senator Dodd has many redeeming qualities–and I am a big fan of his work–but his soft-spot for Joe Lieberman goes a long way toward overshadowing all of them.

Be sure to watch till the end, to catch all the Dodd.

Another CT politician who I respect and admire has announced his support for Barack Obama. It was a shame when Chris Dodd exited the race, but the fact that he’s chosen to endorse Obama makes me that much happier with the vote I cast for him back on Super Tuesday.

(Hat tip to Scarce for the video)

Major props are due to Senator Dodd, for running a campaign that Connecticut Democrats like me were proud to support. I’m especially impressed by the internet department helmed by Tim Tagaris. Tagaris and crew should be proud of their efforts, especially the talk clocks, the citizen whip counts, and the stripped-down campaign e-mails. You’ll see those innovations co-opted by other campaigns in the future as they play catch-up with whatever Tagaris is up to next.

CaffeinatedGeekGirl, who is days away from leaving the nutmeg state to start working for ActBlue, captured this screencap of MSNBC.com referring to Dodd as Todd, making our Senator the Rodney Dangerfield of the Democratic field. Click for full size.

Update: ClammyC has a diary at DailyKos thanking Chris Dodd:

Regardless of whether he had a shot of winning, the fact that some of the issues he stood for and the things that he brought to the debate – I am proud to have supported the too-short candidacy and campaign until the end.

At least we can look forward to Dodd continuing his strong leadership in his currently elected position in the Senate, and I look forward to continue having him represent my values and stand up for what’s best for this country.

Mark Pazniokas of The Hartford Courant reports:

DES MOINES, Iowa – Sen. Christopher J. Dodd intends to formally end his campaign tonight after finishing sixth place with less than 1 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses.

He plans to return Saturday to his home in East Haddam, Conn., campaign sources said. With the top three candidates capturing nearly 97 percent of the vote, there was no room tonight for Dodd or any other candidate in the second tier to become viable.

The Dodd Blog has some background on Ned Lamont’s trip to Iowa.