March 23, 2008
Joe Lieberman: McCain's Bipartisan Wingman
Politico: The Two Have Been Nearly Inseparable Since The One-Time Dem VP Nominee Endorsed McCain Last December
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McCain's Foreign Policy Gaffe
"CBS News RAW": Speaking to reporters in Jordan, John McCain mistakenly referred to Iranian extremists as al Qaeda terrorists. McCain recanted after being corrected by Sen. Joseph Lieberman.
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Photo
Sen. John McCain, center, addresses the media, as Sen. Joe Lieberman, left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, right, look on, following their meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Friday, March 21, 2008. (AP)
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McCain's Quest
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John McCain
Some call him a hero, some a maverick. Will Americans call him Mr. President?
Wherever John McCain goes these days, it seems, Joseph I. Lieberman is there.
When McCain needed a quick reminder in Jordan last week on how to characterize Islamic radicals in Iraq receiving aid from Iran, Lieberman was there to whisper into his colleague’s ear. A day later in Israel, the Connecticut senator proved equally helpful, stepping in to help McCain clarify the meaning of the Jewish holiday of Purim.
Whether wearing yarmulkes together amid the throngs at Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall, meeting reporters outside 10 Downing Street in London or sporting matching suit-and-sweater combos at a snowy New Hampshire town hall meeting, the two have been nearly inseparable since Lieberman endorsed McCain last December.
As McCain hopes to wage a campaign that appeals to an independent-minded electorate exasperated by the Bush administration and the political status quo, Lieberman, a former Democratic vice presidential nominee, has become something of a symbolic character witness meant to testify to the Arizonan’s bipartisan approach.
As recently as 2000, the McCain-Lieberman political partnership might have seemed unthinkable. At the time, McCain was running for the Republican presidential nomination. And Lieberman was one of the nation’s most prominent Democratic politicians, a well-respected centrist whose selection as Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore’s running mate drew widespread praise.
But always more moralistic than some in his party, Lieberman’s hawkish tendencies have put him squarely out of step with his party, a fact underscored by his dud of a presidential run in 2004.
His steadfast support of the war in Iraq, while the vast majority of Democrats soured on the conflict, left him increasingly isolated. His 2006 Senate primary election loss to a neophyte challenger underscored his fall from favor. Lieberman ultimately won reelection, but it was as a third-party candidate.
Though he had initially wanted to stay out of the 2008 presidential fray, Lieberman was swayed by a personal appeal from McCain, an aide to the Connecticut senator said. Shortly after returning from a trip to Iraq together over Thanksgiving, McCain asked for his colleague’s support, saying it would make the most difference before the New Hampshire primary, where independents and Democrats can participate.
But even after the GOP contest moved to states where his influence was limited, Lieberman wasn’t sidelined. The senator whose party affiliation is now “Independent Democrat” appeared with McCain in conservative South Carolina and in some of the most heavily Republican parts of central Florida.
Besides South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who joined the duo on their overseas trip last week and who enjoys something approaching favorite nephew status with McCain, no other elected official has taken as visible a role or become such a ubiquitous presence in the McCain campaign as the junior senator from Connecticut.
Newly energized and again relevant in national political circles, Lieberman is already being talked about as an obvious pick for a McCain administration, likely as secretary of defense or some other high-profile foreign policy post.
McCain strategists see great value in the dissident Democrat and promise that Lieberman will play a key role in the general election.
“He contradicts the DNC caricature [of McCain],” says Mark Salter, McCain’s closest aide and former chief of staff.
As Democrats seek to portray the Arizona senator as representing a third Bush term, argues Salter, Lieberman’s willingness to back a Republican “exposes that for the emptiness that it is.”
“It’s a great story about character and courage,” adds Charlie Black, another top McCain dviser, alluding to Lieberman’s unlikely path from would-be Democratic vice president to senior surrogate for the GOP standard-bearer.
“And it reinforces McCain’s character and courage,” he adds, hinting at the Republican’s own willingness to buck his own party for principle. “[The endorsement] would not have happened for any other Republican.”
Nor would it have happened at all had Lieberman not been so at odds with his former party.
“Clearly that primary challenge he faced was a turning point in Joe Lieberman’s political career,” says Will Marshall, a co-founder of the once-Lieberman-headed Democratic Leadership Council and director of the Progressive Policy Institute. “That experience liberated him to follow his conscience on other political questions.”
Lieberman, who an aide says has only signaled a desire to keep serving in the Senate, has disappointed some of his admirers by coming out for McCain.
“I wish I understood it,” laments Steve Rabinowitz, a Democratic strategist who stuck by Lieberman in 2006 even after his primary loss to Ned Lamont. “I just don’t know what to make of him anymore. I’m very sad.”
Rabinowitz speculates that Lieberman has entered a nothing-left-to-lose phase and that his endorsement strikes the first notes of a political “swan song.”
Those close to McCain and Lieberman, however, argue that the endorsement is the natural outgrowth of a long-budding relationship that has been cemented by a shared belief in the primacy of the threat of Islamic extremism.
While the two have served together for nearly 20 years in the clubby upper chamber, it wasn’t until the late-90s that they really bonded.
As members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the pair grew close while traveling together on congressional trips much like the one they took to Europe and the Middle East last week. Their friendship took root as they became regulars at the Wehrkunde conference, a Munich confab held every February that draws military and security experts from around the world.
McCain and Lieberman also joined forces on the two preeminent foreign policy issues of the era: American intervention in the Balkans and the decision to launch air strikes against Iraq.
“The split of the two parties on foreign policy compared to the '90s is crucial to understanding Lieberman,” says Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard editor and a friend of both men. “He hasn’t changed his mind.”
For his part, on domestic issues, McCain also has moved closer to Lieberman’s brand of DLC moderation.
Just as Lieberman is now liberated from following political orthodoxy, McCain went his own way after losing the primary to Bush in 2000. The two paired up to sponsor legislation, opposed by the administration and most Republicans, addressing global warming, and introduced the measure creating the 9/11 Commission over the initial opposition of the White House. They were also key players in the bipartisan Gang of 14.
Those close to Lieberman, however, say that his decision to so enthusiastically get behind McCain is borne in their shared experience as party loners, as much about persona as policy.
“First and foremost, it’s character,” says Dan Gerstein, a Democratic strategist who helped lead Lieberman’s 2006 campaign and previously worked in his Senate office. “This is purely a personal decision and is based on faith and belief in McCain.”
Gerstein, a Barack Obama supporter, shares the same concern of other Democrats: that Lieberman could serve as exactly the sort of validator for McCain’s independence that the Arizonan’s aides are counting on.
Lieberman could be especially helpful in Florida, with its heavy Jewish population, says Gerstein.
But Marshall, the DLC co-founder, suggests that Lieberman could be useful in a more unconventional way - with gentiles.
“Oddly enough, Joe Lieberman may have more credibility with religious voters than the very secular John McCain,” Marshall says.
More than anything, though, Lieberman could aid McCain’s effort “to run a campaign that transcends the limited reach of the Republican coalition,” observes Marshall.
“It feeds the McCain image of being attractive to independents and crossover Democrats,” agrees Rabinowitz, who supports Hillary Rodham Clinton. “At best, it’s not helpful for us.”
The key may be which Lieberman emerges: the affable vice presidential nominee of 2000 or the charisma-deficient presidential candidate four years later.
“My only hope is that he’s able to deliver as few people to McCain as he did to himself,” Rabinowitz says.
By Jonathan Martin
Copyright 2008 POLITICO





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See all 74 Comments"When McCain needed a quick reminder in Jordan last week on how to characterize Islamic radicals in Iraq receiving aid from Iran"
Oh, is that what it is called?
A "reminder"?
Son, you may want to go back to the video and see it again.
You missed something.
He can''t just yet, Lieberman is his AIPAC connection.
Lieberman speaking softly: Jewish
John McCain seen mouthing the word J e w i s h. With still a look of slight confusion on his face he was over heard asking Lieberman "Then no Shiites or Sunni''s?
Lieberman''s response: No John not here.
With still a look of slight confusion on his face he was over heard asking Lieberman "Then no Shiites or Sunni''''s?
Lieberman''''s response: No John not here.
Posted by navpro at 10:46 AM
Poor John, thinks shiites is what is in his Depends,
and "sunnis" in the sky.
and "sunnis" in the sky.
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Posted by rushlimpdrug at 10:48 AM : Mar 24, 2008
As close as Liebermans been seen next to John McCain, It may not be that John thinks the Shiite''s are the only thing in his Depends.
This election cycle is different. Too much Republican fiscal irresponsibility, corruption, and sexual perversion the last 7 1/2 years, combined with rising insurance rates, food prices, medical bills, & gas prices! Too many problems created by Reps, for the public to forget! Normally, I''d say this strategy was possible, but not now, because the rightwing extremists overplayed their hand!
armydog2-traitor, you say. Could it be he just didn''t like the direction your lib, sociatist party was heading. Could it be that he didn''t leave your party but the party left him. Sounds like he exercised his right. He did not join the Republican party but became an Independent. Looks like the people of his state agreed there, fella, cause they elected him. Stop being hateful and grow up.
Know any American jews younger than 60 who support John McCain? Answer: NONE!
U.S. media has created and sustained an overwhelmingly positive image of John McCain''s character and his status as a "war hero." People who are willing to reveal the most damning facts which threaten these myths are largely ignored or heavily edited, and are most often treated in a "Kill the messenger" fashion. We have been forced to conclude that only by producing our own newspaper ads, radio and TV commercials can we expose the "real McCain" to the American people.
We have professional television directors, advertising consultants, and several national organizations who are working with us to launch this national media campaign.
Know any American jews younger than 60 who support John McCain? Answer: NONE!
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Posted by danstoned at 11:11 AM : M
I don''t know any American that works for a living, that supports McCain.
Check out this Israel First Traitor platform at
johnmccain.com
Posted by Xlib at 11:07 AM
Yeah son, life is rough even on for a lying "Xlib"
Go back to mama and tell her that there are bad people out there.
Tell her the bad people write as if they had freedom to write.
Joe Lieberman: McCain''s As*sman from Israel?
And rushbo, just what am I lying about?? It''s really typical of a lib, when in doubt, throw out names and call the other poster a liar. So, point it out to me there rushy.
I just stated you libs didn''t disappoint me.
In a way, McCain needs Lieberman on the ticket to attract all those "independant" voters out there. He also needs Lieberman by his side to keep reminding McCain who he is and where he is at! This is much like the "arrangement" existing between VP Darth Vader Cheney and the Great Emperor Bush II, who, as everyone knows, has a somewhat limited IQ despite his have a degree from Yale (thank you, daddy!)!
SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!
sig heil (more of the same), McCain????
Spoken like a true neo cons the only problem is that we know true neo cons like you will always vote Republican you have no other choice because your religous leaders have decreeded it.
Posted by davek455 at 12:10 PM : Mar 24, 2008
This is a last ditch effort by "turncoat" Joe to remain in politics--the once partisan Democrat has for religious and political reasons only known to him, has done a 180 on his loyalty to this country.
You''re done in CT Joe and you know it.
On Monday, McCain is viewed favorably by 55% of voters nationwide and unfavorably by 42%. Obama%u2019s reviews are 46% favorable and 52% unfavorable. For Clinton, those numbers are 42% favorable, 55% unfavorable.
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Posted by trapbreak at 12:50 PM : Mar 24, 200
Was this survey done at one particular mental hospital,or several??????
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Posted by williamfold at 01:08 PM : Mar 24, 2008
That is McCain''s goal, Bipartisan sexual politics
here''s a clue, polls don''t mean dickly doo.
Politico: The Two Have Been Nearly Inseparable Since The One-Time Dem VP Nominee Endorsed McCain Last December
Senators Lieberman and McCain share a common interest in bombing Iran, I use to share that interest as well. But the U.S. nor Israel should bomb Iran, if it does happen a third party should do it.
Posted by Element51 at 01:30 PM : Mar 24, 2008
Who do you think you''re fooling ? - You were never voting for any Dem anyways so why insinuate such - besides your claims are very Bogus - on what specific ABC board ??? Besides you seem to be a very good (Living) proof of an excellent Repug rule. Cheers!
don''t believe everything you read. right now, it''s waaaaay tooooo early to be calling the election. my guess is by the time gas hits $4 bucks this summer, the masses will be ready for anybody but a republican.
Latest Dela Katessin poll has Obama beating McCain head-to-head in the general by 64% to 33% and that margin is increasing over the same poll last month while McCain would beat Clinton 55% to 42% with 3% too stupid to decide which poll to believe.
Posted by Element51 at 01:48 PM : Mar 24, 2008
I do need to apologise for that - but with the current state of affairs in this country - we can''t be given into fear .... it''s much better to believe and continue counting the days --- Repugs like Mudrose and Infidel are starting to feel the Repug BS and they''re much reluctant right now to come out all for McCain cuz alot of them do know better ..... Like an earlier poster pointed out, when Gas hits over $4 in the next few months, we''ll see how many more rabid Repugs remain. Cheers!
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