Lieberman vows to help both aisles

[frigidmagi]

Connpost

HARTFORD — Joe Lieberman, who rebelled against his own Democratic Party to win back his U.S. Senate seat as an independent, pledged Wednesday to build bridges across party lines "to get things done."

Lieberman decried as venomous the partisan assaults that have led to gridlock in Congress even as he reaffirmed his commitment to caucus with the Democrats.

"If we don't stop hating the people across the political aisle, how are we going to strengthen this country and get anything done?" Lieberman said to reporters.

Lieberman reiterated his vow to remain with the Democrats, saying a prime consideration for staying in the race was using his 18 years of seniority on Capitol Hill to help Connecticut.

Lieberman said that Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada assured him his seniority will remain intact. If Democrats take the majority, Lieberman would be in line to be chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

With Democrats and Republicans jockeying for control of the closely divided Senate, both parties will be vying for Lieberman's vote.

Democrats were assured of 50 votes with the defeat of GOP Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana. In Virginia, they held a slight lead over GOP Sen. George Allen, setting the stage for a possible 51-49 majority that would include Lieberman and another independent who leans toward the Democrats, Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Lieberman, who lost an August Democratic primary to Greenwich anti-Iraq war candidate Ned Lamont, won his fourth term as a petition candidate — drawing 38 percent of his support from unaffiliated voters, 37 percent from Republicans and 25 percent from Democrats, according to his campaign staff.

Lamont's main issue in his campaign against Lieberman was the Iraq war and Lieberman's support for it. He blasted Lieberman for being too closely aligned with Bush.

Gary Rose, a professor of politics at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, said he would be surprised if Lieberman took away any lessons from the election.

"I think he knows why he lost the Democratic primary, but I don't think it will condition how he acts," Rose said. "He was on the wrong side of the fence on the war but he went ahead and won the general election so I don't think he feels compelled to change that position." Nevertheless, when Congress returns for a lame duck session next week, Lieberman said he would focus on building a bipartisan coalition around the Iraq war. "Not to retreat from Iraq but urgently change what we are doing to get things done," he said.

Lieberman said that public opinion against the war has not changed his outlook but that facts on the ground make it obvious that the current policy is not working.

"A great majority of Iraqis want a better life," he said. "They aren't insurgents or terrorists and we should try to strengthen them. Push, coerce, cajole, encourage and support the Iraqi government to do what they've said they would do — disarm the sectarian militias, implement the national unity compact, restore order and rebuild the economy in the Sunni triangle area."

Lieberman said he plans to vote according to his conscience and what he believes is in the best interest of Connecticut and the nation.

"It is going to be a closely divided Senate. And, I'm just going to feel empowered and in some sense directed by the voters of Connecticut, issue by issue, to do what I think is right and best for them. And, work with whoever on either side of the political aisle to try to get something done for the state," he said.

Rose said that Lieberman's flirtation with third-party politics was simply a convenience for getting past his loss in the Democratic primary.

"I don't think he is going to remain an independent for long," he said. "He's going to caucus with Democrats and be back where he was with the Democrats."

Lieberman also said he had no interest in serving in the Bush administration.

"I would reject any offer, which has not come, and, I believe, will not come," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Well I guess we'll see.