U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens' guilty verdict makes it even more likely Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will tell Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to get lost.

Lieberman, officially an Independent Democrat, had become a thorn in the side of Democrats for the past two years. Currently Democrats hold 49 seats in the Senate, but they have a 51-seat control only because Lieberman and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, also an Independent, caucus with Democrats. Ever since Lieberman endorsed Republican John McCain’s White House bid, his relationship with the other Democratic lawmakers has been strained. Yet, Lieberman stayed with the Democrats. They needed him for majority control. He liked his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Stevens' conviction, handed down Monday in a Washington, D.C., federal court, almost ensures that his Democratic opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, will join the Senate. Suddenly Democrats increasingly do not need Lieberman as much as he needs them. The Pindell Report now estimates that with Alaska flipping, Democrats will have 59 seats in the Senate. Democratic majority status is assured. Republicans are also are at risk of losing three more seats in Mississippi, Georgia and Kentucky. If Democrats pick off just one of those seats they will have necessary benchmark of 60 votes to override a Republican filibuster.

Even if Reid doesn't take personal satisfaction in telling Lieberman to leave the caucus his fellow Democrats will. If they do cut Lieberman loose, he is likely to vote with Democrats on most filibustered bills anyway.