Last month, I argued that Democrats will end up deciding not to strip Joe Lieberman of his chairmanship in the next Congress for fear of causing him to switch parties. But based on Lieberman’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric, Josh Marshall is suggesting in a post and video that the Connecticut independent will be stripped of his position.

There’s certainly a strong case to be made that Lieberman has forfeited his right to any favors from the party, but I don’t think people realize how costly it will be to strip him of his chairmanship. Here’s what I wrote back in May:

The Lieberman-defenstrators out there don’t appreciate the fact that the Connecticut senator’s overall voting record in the current Congress is actually pretty close to the middle of the party. If he switches parties, that’s unlikely to continue — previous party switchers have drastically changed their voting patterns. The resulting shift would make it that much harder for a President Obama to end Republican filibusters and get his agenda passed. My guess is Democrats will realize this and let Lieberman stay in the caucus.

With Democrats projected to end up with approximately 55-57 seats in the next Senate, do they really want to raise the bar on every bill by one more vote?