I heard speculation
that the statement from Obama is a shrewd political move because it appears that the olive branch is going out to Lieberman when they know he'll bolt from the party when they strip away his committee chair positions. The partisanship will fall on Joe's head then.
Makes perfect sense to me. Lieberman's committees blocked some key legislation during the last 2 years and you have to know the Dems trust him as far as they can throw him. If he remains a Democrat it'll be as a token only.
Art