Sen. Lieberman to Endorse Sen. John McCain Tomorrow
Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic is reporting that Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman will travel to New Hampshire tomorrow to announce his endorsement of Arizona Senator John McCain for President. Senator Lieberman has been much maligned by his Party for his hawkish views on the War in Iraq, but praised by many Republicans for his principled stand.
The move is, despite the initial shock value of it as a political event, rather predictable when viewed through the prism of recent history - Sen. McCain and Sen. Lieberman have been the nucleus of a very small team of Senators whose approach to the War in Iraq hasn’t been mangled by the shifting political winds. While those vying for the opportunity to bear the Democratic standard in 2008 have steadily moved toward a more strident anti-war position, Lieberman has stood solidly for his principles. Even the sting of losing the 2006 Democrat nomination for the U.S. Senate did not bow the Senator’s resolve.
At the same time, Senator John McCain has paid a heavy price for his stalwart commitment to the Iraq War, and his continued advocacy for additional troops and resources brought upon him the ire of the liberal media establishment early in the GOP nominating process. Crucial early fundraising dollars stopped flowing toward McCain’s Presidential bid, forcing the campaign into a now infamous July purge from which his campaign never seemed to recover.
In the last few weeks though, almost imperceptibly on account of the much-hyped ‘Huckaboom’, Senator McCain’s mojo seems to be coming back. The New Hampshire Union Leader, a key conservative endorsement in New Hampshire endorsed the Arizonan’s bid two weeks ago. The Des Moines Register, Iowa’s most influential daily, also saw fit to endorse Sen. McCain today despite McCain’s principled stand against ethanol subsidies and lackluster effort in the Hawkeye State.
Together, Senators Lieberman and McCain - whose destinies both seemed to peak in the 2000 Presidential election cycle, seem to have bound themselves together in the most unlikely of alliances in hopes that these men of principle, though perhaps past their prime, may yet rally the nation together in pursuit of the type of leadership that America deserves.












