I'd prefer the Lieberman I know, to a New England republican I don't know.
When the vote is taken to organize the senate, who will Leiberman vote for? Answer: The democrat Reed.
The party that controls the Senate controls the agenda. If you don't like what's coming out of the Senate now, thanks to the ineffectual cowardly lion Frist, wait til the socialist crats get ahold of power. They are idealogs and will wield power aggressively.
If you think the likes of Fat Kennedy, Crusty Clinton, Dodd, Boxer, Fineswine, Schmucky Schumer have too much influence now, wait til the crats regain power.
The problem now is that Mr. Eunuch Frist has no idea how to enforce party discipline and that lets marginal Republicans like Snow, Specter, McLame run roughshod over him. Hopefully next year, if the Republicans retain the Senate, they'll have a real leader to keep the mavericks in line.
Looking at the big picture in this case, I'll have to take anyone with an R after their name at this time.