Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that while Senator Joe Lieberman was wrong to campaign for the Republican presidential ticket, Democrats who want him stripped of his chairmanship should remember that he gave their party control of the Senate.

``I would not be majority leader but for his vote,'' Reid said on CNN's ``Late Edition'' program.

In the current two-year session of Congress, Lieberman, 66, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, is the margin of difference in the Democrats' 51-49 control of the Senate. The party expanded its majority in the November elections and will have at least six more seats when the new Congress convenes in January.

``The caucus has a decision to make and they're going to make it,'' Reid said. ``For those people beating up on Joe Lieberman -- I've done my share -- recognize the glass being half full, not half empty.''

Lieberman might be ejected from the caucus, or stripped of his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Or the Democrats might decide to leave the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee where he is.

Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, called Lieberman ``one of the most progressive people ever to come from the state of Connecticut.''

``Joe Lieberman has done something that I think was improper,'' Reid said. ``But Joe Lieberman votes with me a lot more than a lot of my senators.''

Lieberman's Voting Record

Lieberman has voted with Democrats on issues such as increased funding for stem-cell research and to prevent oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

He split with Democrats over the Iraq War by supporting Republican President George W. Bush's policy of sending more troops to the conflict last year to quell sectarian violence.

Lieberman campaigned often with Arizona Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, and stopped attending the weekly lunch held by Senate Democrats. He addressed the Republican National Convention in St. Paul and criticized Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Asked if Lieberman owed President-elect Obama an apology, Reid said ``this is not some high school deal where you say, okay, you embarrassed me in front of my girlfriend therefore you apologize.''

Lieberman was defeated in Connecticut's Democratic Senate primary in 2006. He changed his affiliation to independent and won a five-way general election with 50 percent of the vote.

To contact the reporter on this story: Todd Shields in Washington at tshields3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 9, 2008 15:50 EST