Lieberman makes his campaign pitch for McCain

Given his recent endorsement event in New Hampshire, Joe Lieberman was bound to send out a fundraising letter on John McCain’s behalf one of these days. The donation pitch hit email boxes yesterday, with a message that’s worth considering in more detail.

I know that it is unusual for someone who is not a Republican to endorse a Republican candidate for President. And if this were an ordinary time and an ordinary election, I probably would not have done so. But this is no ordinary time….

I’d like to thank Lieberman for identifying himself as “someone who is not a Republican,” instead of using “Democrat.” I still find it annoying when news outlets put a “D” after his name.

In this critical election, no one should let party lines be a barrier to choosing the person we believe is best qualified to lead our nation forward. The problems that confront us are too great….

Yes, we are confronted with quite a list of “problems,” aren’t we? Of course, as Matt Yglesias noted, “[L]eft unmentioned here is that a huge proportion of the great ‘problems that confront us’ are the direct results of the Bush/McCain/Lieberman effort to replace traditional internationalism with the daft ‘rogue state rollback’ that McCain campaigned on during the 2000 primary. There was at least a point in time when George W. Bush seemed to recognize the folly of this, but it’s always been McCain’s passion.”

I have worked closely with John for many years on many issues. I have seen John, time and again, rise above the negativism and smallness of our politics to get things done for this country we love so much.

Really? Would that include the times he ridicules the children of his political enemies and the frequent F-bombs he drops on his colleagues who dare to disagree with him?



When others were silent, and it was thought politically unpopular, John had the courage and common sense to sound the alarm about the mistakes we were making in Iraq and to call for more troops and a new strategy there.

Lieberman has been hitting this note repeatedly of late. In his endorsement speech for McCain nearly two weeks ago, Lieberman said the exact same thing, literally word for word.

He can keep repeating it, but it’s still wrong. Far from “sounding the alarm,” as Lieberman insisted today, McCain was doing the opposite.

“It’s clear that the end is very much in sight.” [ABC, 4/9/03] “This is a mission accomplished. They know how much influence Saddam Hussein had on the Iraqi people, how much more difficult it made to get their cooperation.” [This Week, ABC, 12/14/03] “I’m confident we’re on the right course.” [ABC News, 3/7/04] “I do think that progress is being made in a lot of Iraq. Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course. If I thought we weren’t making progress, I’d be despondent.” [The Hill, 12/8/05]

OK, so Lieberman’s wrong about reality. The more politically salient question is whether any of this is having the desired effect. Lieberman’s endorsement was intended to drive independents to McCain. Is that happening? Apparently not.

According to a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll released last week, Lieberman’s endorsement makes only 15% of independents more likely to vote for McCain, yet it persuades 25% of Republicans. But the polls only tell part of the story. It’s not Lieberman the maverick or moderate who helps McCain the most; it’s Lieberman the moralist.

In other words, McCain’s Republican support is bolstered by Lieberman’s endorsement. And what does this tell us about Lieberman?