Wonder twin powers, activate– form of a triangulate. Today Senator Chris Dodd has officially jumped on the Obama bandwagon. He’s endorsed Obama for president. Lefty nutty meggers will rejoice. It’s a funny thing though, because upon entering the senate way back in 2005, Barack Obama was Senator Joe Lieberman’s protege. Along with it of course all the DLC stuff, speaking at the Council of Foreign Relations etc. In other words things that make usually make national Democrats palatable to the rest of the country. Politics sure does make for odd befellows. Like the time that Lieberman had to mediate the battle of the bi-partisan in the Senate.

That really interesting bit was when Obama and Senator John McCain had a tiff over process in some insider jockeying.  A trip to the wayback machine (McCain Blasts — And We Mean Blasts — Obama):

An outraged Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) today called Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) insincere and partisan, suggesting the Illinois freshman as much as lied in private discussions the two had about ethics reform last week.

(McCain’s letter is here and here; Obama’s letter of last week is here)

McCain is perhaps the most admired Republican senator in the country and is likely an ‘08 presidential candidate. Obama, of course, is the Democratic Party’s featured player, rivaling Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) in nationwide popularity and fundraising prowess. It is rare for a Senator to rebuke another so publicly, and all the more exceptional that McCain does not cloak his language in layers of euphemism.

“I would like to apologize to you for assuming that your private assurances to me regarding your desire to cooperate in our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform were sincere,” McCain writes.

Obama attended a meeting with McCain and senators committed to a bipartisan task force on ethics reform. McCain left the meeting convinced that Obama was open to working closely together, according to an aide.

But the next day, Obama wrote McCain that he preferred his own party’s legislation to a task force and suggested McCain take another look at the Democratic caucus’s Honest Leadership Act, which does not have a Republican cosponsor.

Wrote Obama: “I know you have expressed an interest in creating a task force to further study and discuss these matters, but I and others in the Democratic Caucus believe the more effective and timely course is to allow the committees of jurisdiction to roll up their sleeves and get to work[.]”

McCain, in his letter, takes exception to Obama’s suggestion that his task force, which Dem. Sens. Joe Lieberman and Bill Nelson support, would impede reform.

McCain: “When you approached me and insisted that despite your leadership’s preference to use the issue to gain a political advantage in the 2006 elections, you were personally committed to achieving a result that would reflect credit on the entire Senate and offer the country a better example of political leadership, I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions with your letter. … I’m embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in political to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble. Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be assured I won’t make the same mistake again.”

Obama’s spokesman, Robert Gibbs, called McCain’s letter “confusing” and “headscratching.” He said Obama “remains committed” to reform and will work with “any Republican and Democrat” who is serious about the issue. His letter to McCain, said Gibbs, signaled his preference “to get legislation through committee, rather than wait for a task force.”

In his letter, McCain says that his task force proposal would ensure that meaningless or cosmetic reforms aren’t rushed into law — and that the solution in the end would reflect the interests of both parties and their voters.

These days Lieberman is backing Senator John McCain for president. Because, anger is the new black. Anger, for example,  that the Internet is dangerous, a resolution co-sponsored by Lieberman and Obama, and supported by McCain and all the rest of the Senate.

The thing is all these guys try to claim that they are different, yet they all do the same old thing. Pander, claim bi-partisanship and work the system to their advantage. Not exactly the sterling stuff you would expect from anyone that wants to be president.