Lieberman’s parting gift may be an extra GOP sen.

Sen. Joe Lieberman’s parting gift to Democrats could end up being a Republican senator — and it wouldn’t necessarily be him, either.

Democrats may think it couldn’t get much worse than the Connecticut senator bashing their party at the Republican National Convention, but they could face an even bigger problem if John McCain becomes president.

{mosads}The GOP nominee’s recent bump in the polls and Lieberman’s (I-Conn.) speech at the Republican convention have fueled speculation that McCain could win and appoint Lieberman to his Cabinet — possibly as secretary of Defense or State.

Under that scenario, and because Connecticut has a GOP governor with appointment power, the newly vacant position would almost undoubtedly go to a Republican. And it would be the last salvo in an increasingly hostile relationship between Democrats and the man they nominated to be vice president just eight years ago.

His most stringent critics insist they have a de facto Republican in the seat right now and that replacing him with a real one wouldn’t change much.

Ned Lamont, who defeated Lieberman in the Democratic primary in 2006 but lost in the general election when Lieberman ran as an Independent, shrugged it off.

“It sounds like a lateral move, politically,” Lamont said.

Former state Democratic Party Chairman George Jepsen noted the growing evidence that Lieberman’s days of caucusing with Democrats are likely to end soon, provided they attain a bigger Senate majority next year.

“We don’t expect him to caucus with the Democrats next winter, in any case,” said Jepsen, who recently signed on to a state party censure resolution against Lieberman.

Lieberman’s office said it does not respond to hypothetical situations.

Should Lieberman gain a Cabinet appointment, Republican Gov. Jodi Rell would appoint a replacement to fill the seat for two years, and then it would be up in both 2010, in a special election, and 2012, for a full term.

Republicans could have a difficult time holding the seat through two consecutive elections in such a blue state, but two years of incumbency would certainly help their cause, and it would at the very least give them an extra seat in the 111th Congress.

The parlor game has taken hold in Connecticut political circles in recent days.

{mospagebreak}{mosads}“There’s a lot of talk about it because of the speech and because of the anger that’s being thrown at Joe Lieberman from rank-and-file Democrats,” said state GOP Chairman Chris Healy. “The poor guy should hire a food taster these days.”

Chief among those who could be appointed are Rep. Christopher Shays, who is facing a tough reelection campaign against a well-funded opponent; Associate U.S. Attorney General Kevin O’Connor; and the two former House members who lost in 2006 — Reps. Rob Simmons and Nancy Johnson.

Shays is a proven winner who has held onto his Democratic-leaning seat despite strong challenges each of the last two cycles, while Simmons unseated a 20-year Democratic incumbent in 2000 and only lost by 83 votes in 2006.

{mosads}O’Connor is a young and well-known former U.S. attorney who ran for Congress in 1998, taking a respectable 41 percent in an open-seat race against Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) in a strongly Democratic district.

Johnson is the oldest of the four, at 73, but state GOPers see her as both a potential placeholder and as someone who could seek reelection.

Other names mentioned include state Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, state House Minority Leader Larry Cafero, Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase Rogers, state Senate candidate Scott Frantz, Ireland Ambassador Tom Foley and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Barbara Franklin.

The exercise might prove futile, though, as the governor has frequently surprised observers with her appointments, said a state GOP source close to party leadership.

“She’s proven unpredictable, appointing a lot of women to positions, whether it’s judges or commissioners,” the source said. “So you’d have to think about a prominent woman mayoral candidate or something like that. But we’re talking about a U.S. Senate seat here.”

Rell spokesman Chris Cooper said the governor has been asked about the process but isn’t preparing for such a hypothetical.

“She’s said that’s a bridge we’ll cross if we come to it,” Cooper said.

{mospagebreak}Once the seat is up for election, Democrats including state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Rosa DeLauro are expected to be in the mix. Lamont said he would consider running as well.

There is also a way for Democrats to attempt to thwart the GOP appointment.

The party tried in 2007 and earlier this year to strip the governor of appointment powers and move up the special election, but it didn’t get too far thanks to politics. The prospects don’t look good for changing it soon.

Democrats could conceivably ram through a change to the process if they pick up one state Senate seat in November, though, which would give them veto-proof majorities in both chambers.

{mosads}To do that, they would have to take up the issue almost immediately upon returning in January.

Lieberman would give them some time to do so if he holds onto his Senate seat during his Cabinet confirmation process.

Larry Perosino, a spokesman for state House Speaker Jim Amann (D), said “there’s not going to be any will or effort to change it in time for” a Lieberman vacancy or if Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) is appointed to a Democratic administration.

“If one of them do get a job with the new president, and the governor is able to appoint her choice, at that point everyone may be willing to change the process — after the fact, for the next time this happens,” Perosino said.

The speculation is something of a replay of 2000, when Lieberman ran simultaneously for vice president and reelection to the Senate.

That year, many Democrats, including then-Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) who was head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, urged him to drop his Senate campaign so that, if Democrats won the presidency, GOP Gov. John Rowland wouldn’t be able to appoint a Republican to replace him. Lieberman refused to do so.

The situation would be similar if Dodd were appointed to a Cabinet position, with the difference being that the 2010 election would be a regular election for a full term.