Lieberman on McCain endorsement
Posted: Monday, December 17, 2007 7:40 PM by Cathy Finkler
On Monday's "Hardball," Sen. Joe Lieberman discussed with Chris Matthews his decision to endorse Republican candidate Sen. John McCain for president, saying that McCain has "been a leader" on global warming and "will make us stronger against the Islamist terrorists who threaten us" than the current administration.
Below is a partial transcript.
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST, 'HARDBALL:' You have passed over a lot of Democrats that you know pretty well. You serve in the Senate, obviously, with Dodd, with Biden, with Clinton, with Obama. You've known Bill Richardson for a long time, and all the others. Are all the others out of your consideration? Are they just not strong enough for America for you to endorse?
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN, I-CONN.: Look, these are a lot of fine people. A lot of them are my friends. But you got to go with the best at this time in American history. And I think particularly on national security and the ability to work across party lines to get things done, including in the war on terrorism, John McCain is the best, so I decided to go with the best. Incidentally, you and I are both students of the great Tip O'Neill. All those Democrats, not one of them asked me to support them. John McCain did ask for my support. I thought about it...
MATTHEWS: You know the rule. People like to be asked.
LIEBERMAN: That's right.
MATTHEWS: You remember the most basic information. I guess I'm wondering because it isn't just that the Democratic leaders who are trying to win the nomination have gone very anti-war. Even though Hillary's hard to read at times, the general notion is even Bill Clinton now says he was against the war in Iraq from the beginning, although I don't believe anybody believes that. The party base left you in your primary last time around.
LIEBERMAN: Right.
MATTHEWS: They seem to be supporting the anti-war position. So you're not just coming out against the current leaders on the Democratic side, you are basically at odds with the Democratic base on foreign policy right now, aren't you?
LIEBERMAN: I am, and I truly regret that because I am a Democrat. I became a Democrat when John F. Kennedy ran for the presidency. I have been a great admirer of Truman, and people like Humphrey and Scoop Jackson afterward. And to me, what it means to be a Democrat, progressive reformist on domestic policy and a strong, principled foreign and defense policy, and I don't see that among the Democratic candidates. Ironically, I see it a lot more in John McCain and any of the leading Democratic candidates. So respectfully, because I like these people, we just have a significant difference of opinion, in this election, I'm going with John McCain.
MATTHEWS: Right now, without looking in the rearview mirror, which is of no value at all to you or to me...
LIEBERMAN: Right.
MATTHEWS: I mean, I've said on this show I voted for Bush the first time. I mean, not everybody can see the future, OK? I mean, we really can't. But looking into the future, sir, do you think John McCain will be an improvement on Bush?
LIEBERMAN: With all respect to the incumbent, I do, and I think for two reasons. One is when I say John can unite the country and break through the partisanship to go back to that tradition of partisan politics ending at the water's edge, which made us strong for a long time. John has strong opinions about foreign policy, but he is always reaching out to try to find common ground, to bring people together, and I think it'll be very important for him to do that. Secondly, on some of the things that the current president has just said no to, like doing anything about global warming, John has been a leader.
He and I put in the first major bill about six years ago on that subject. And you know what else? You know him. He is a restless reformer. He is unhappy with the status quo in Washington today. And although he`s been around here a long time, I actually think he represents, he would represent as president more change from the status quo than just about any other candidate running in either party.
MATTHEWS: So he's a changed candidate from the president, as you see it right now.
LIEBERMAN: I do. Look, as you know, I've supported some of the basic foreign policy decisions of this administration, but I think John will not only keep those principled decisions, but he'll implement them in a way that will allow us to break through some of the partisanship, and that will make us stronger against the Islamist terrorists who threaten us. And never forget that though McCain and I supported the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and neither one of us regrets that...
MATTHEWS: Right.
LIEBERMAN: ... John was very early and loud out against Secretary Rumsfeld and the Bush administration strategy in Iraq, which was not working. He said we needed more troops and we need a better counterinsurgency strategy. It's now being implemented under General Petraeus, and it's working. Watch complete video
