WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Connecticut, described Sen. Chuck Hagel's potential presidential bid "fascinating" late Wednesday evening and mused that it might mean there is room in the Democratic presidential primary for a pro-war Democrat.

Lieberman acknowledged Hagel, the Nebraska Republican who has become a vocal critic of the Iraq war, would be a different candidate than the rest of the GOP presidential field if he ran and the Connecticut Democrat wondered aloud whether his own party's presidential field could benefit from a different candidate as well.

"Well maybe the Democratic primary needs a pro-war candidate," Lieberman told CNN with raised eyebrows and tongue apparently in cheek. Lieberman is the most vocal Democratic supporter of President Bush's Iraq policy.

Lieberman, the Democratic Party's 2000 vice presidential nominee, launched his own presidential bid in 2003 but dropped out of the race after he was unsuccessful in the first round of primaries.

In 2006, he lost his party's Connecticut Senate primary, due to his pro-war stance, but went on to win the general election as an "independent" Democrat. He remains a registered Democrat.