Joe Lieberman

Joseph Lieberman
Junior Senator, Connecticut
In office January 1989–Present
Preceded by	Lowell Weicker
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2007)
Personal details
Nationality	american
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Hadassah Lieberman

Joseph Isadore Lieberman, (born February 24, 1942) is a Democratic U.S. senator from Connecticut, best known as Al Gore's running mate on the Democratic ticket in 2000. The religiously-observant Lieberman was the first Jew nominated for Vice President of the United States by a major party. In 2004, Lieberman campaigned for the Democratic nomination for President, but gained little support from primary voters and dropped out of the race.

Lieberman defeated liberal Republican Lowell Weicker to win election to the United States Senate in 1988 and was re-elected in 1994 and 2000. A former chair of the influential Democratic Leadership Council, a collection of centrist and conservative Democrats, Lieberman is considered to be one of the most conservative of prominent Democratic politicians. He has been a strong supporter of the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq and criticized some of his opponents in the 2004 Primaries for their opposition to the war; he is also generally more sympathetic to the role of religion in public life than many within the Party, and he first achieved national notice for his public criticism of President Bill Clinton's ethical conduct during the Lewinsky scandal in 1998.

On other issues, such as abortion, gun control and the environment, Lieberman's views more closely follow the positions of the Democratic party mainstream. Although he is sometimes characterized as a "Republicrat" or "DINO" (Democrat in name only) by many relatively liberal party members[1][2], including an unfavorable comparison of his rhetoric to that of conservative Democrat Ben Nelson[3], others (including Lieberman himself) view Lieberman as a Democrat in the tradition of Washington Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, who advocated a hawkish foreign policy and a liberal domestic program. Coincidentally, Jackson in 1970 faced a primary challenge from liberal Democrats unhappy with a three-term senator's support for a controversial war, the same scenario that confronts Lieberman in 2006. Unlike "Scoop" Jackson, however, Lieberman has also been criticized for what is seen as conservatism on many domestic issues, including backing Republicans on the Terri Schiavo case and looking to compromise on Social Security privatization.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Those who do not see Lieberman as a DINO can point to the fact that he has consistently received a high rating from the Americans for Democratic Action and a low rating from the American Conservative Union [11]. Some of his critics argue, however, that these scorecards fail to capture the substance of his record on votes that really matter. [12][13]

Early life and career

Lieberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut to Henry Lieberman (the son of Polish Jewish immigrants) and Marcia Manger (of Austrian Jewish background). He attended public schools in Stamford, received his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1964 and his law degree from Yale Law School in 1967, after which he worked at the prestigious New Haven law firm of Wiggin & Dana. During Lieberman's time at Yale, he travelled to Mississippi to help African-Americans register to vote. Lieberman was elected to the Connecticut State Senate in 1970 and served there for 10 years, including the last 6 as Majority Leader. He suffered his one defeat in Connecticut elections in the Reagan landslide year of 1980, losing the race for the Third District Congressional seat to Republican Lawrence Joseph DeNardis, a state senator from suburban Hamden. From 1982 to 1988, he served as Connecticut's 21st Attorney General.

Senate tenure

Lieberman was first elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat in 1988, scoring the nation's biggest political upset that year by a margin of just 10,000 votes after being backed by a coalition of conservative Democrats, allied with conservative Republicans who were upset with Republican incumbent Lowell Weicker's liberal voting record. Lieberman was even endorsed by National Review and it was joked in many circles how the Democratic candidate was more conservative than the Republican one. This led to Lieberman greatly outpolling Michael Dukakis in the conservative 5th District. Six years later, he made history by winning the biggest landslide victory ever in a Connecticut Senate race, drawing 67 percent of the vote and beating his opponent by more than 350,000 votes. In 1998, Lieberman earned widespread praise as the first prominent Democrat to publicly chastise Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. In 2000, while concurrently running for the vice presidency, Lieberman was elected to a third Senate term by winning 64 percent of the vote.

When control of the Senate switched from the Republicans to Democrats hands in June 2001, Lieberman became Chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, with oversight responsibilities over a broad range of government activities. In addition, he is a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and chair of its Subcommittee Clean Air, Wetlands and Private Property; the Armed Services Committee, where he chaired the Subcommittee on AirLand Forces and sits of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities; and the Small Business Committee. When Republican control of the Senate resumed in January 2003, Lieberman resumed his role as ranking minority member of the committees he had once chaired.

Vice presidential campaign

File:Goreconvention.jpg

Joe Lieberman gained national recognition when Al Gore picked him as running mate in 2000.

In August 2000, the presumptive-Democratic nominee for president, Al Gore, tapped Lieberman to be his vice-presidential running mate. His selection marked the first Jewish candidate on a major party ticket. The announcement of Lieberman's selection showed an increase in support for Gore's campaign. [14] Like Democratic VP candidate Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 and Presidential Candidate, Senator John Kerry, in 2004, Lieberman's Senate term was also due to expire in this election cycle and he decided to stage a run to maintain that seat as well.

Interestingly, Lieberman later criticized Al Gore for adopting a populist theme during their 2000 campaign, and stated he had objected to Gore's "people vs. the powerful" message, believing it was not the best strategy for Democrats to use to win the election.[15]

Presidential campaign

On January 13, 2003, Lieberman announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination as a candidate in the 2004 presidential election. Describing his Presidential hopes, Lieberman opined that his historically hawkish stance would appeal to voters: "Among the seven Democratic Lieberman was seen as a marginal contender in the large primary race. The highmark of Lieberman's campaign was a January 26th Gallup exit poll suggesting that Lieberman might have gotten third-place in the New Hampshire primary. Lieberman claimed this poll as evidence of "Joementum". When the official New Hampshire primary results were released, however, it was clear that Lieberman actually got fifth place and that Lieberman's presumptions of Joementum were ill-founded.

A few weeks later on February 3, 2004, Lieberman withdrew his candidacy after failing to win any of the five primaries or two caucuses held that day. One thing that is believed to have cost him votes among Democrats was his unwavering support for the war in Iraq.

In December 2003, former Vice-President Al Gore, Lieberman's former running mate, endorsed Governor Howard Dean saying, "This is about all of us and all of us need to get behind the strongest candidate (Dean)". This caused a rift due to the contentious relationship between Lieberman and Dean during the primary. Furthermore, Gore did not call Lieberman to apprise him of the endorsement.

Political positions

Iraq War stance

Lieberman staunchly supported the Iraq War Resolution. In a candid November 29 2005 op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal, Lieberman praised the efforts of the U.S. military in the occupation of Iraq and criticized both parties,

"I am disappointed by Democrats who are more focused on how President Bush took America into the war in Iraq almost three years ago, and by Republicans who are more worried about whether the war will bring them down in next November's elections, than they are concerned about how we continue the progress in Iraq in the months and years ahead."[16]

Democratic Party leadership rebuked Lieberman. On December 9, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid claimed to be troubled by Lieberman's comments, "I've talked to Senator Lieberman, and unfortunately he is at a different place on Iraq than the majority of the American people." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi added, "I completely disagree with Lieberman. I believe that we have a responsibility to speak out if we think that the course of action that our country is not making the American people safer, making our military stronger and making the region more stable."[17]

Lieberman refused to recant his position, stating "I've had this position for a long time — that we need to finish the job."[18]

His defense of the administration has led some to speculate that he is attempting to position himself to replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld or another high-ranking government official, but Lieberman has denied having any desire for this.[19] In 2005 media reports suggested that Lieberman might replace Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. [20] Lieberman dispelled the rumors, saying "It's a total fantasy, there's just no truth to it." [21] It should be noted that rumors of Lieberman being nominated for a higher position have been floated before, particularly by anti-Lieberman blogs: as U.N. Ambassador, as Secretary of Homeland Security. Like the Defense Secretary speculation, they have all turned out to be rumors and categorically denied by Lieberman.

On December 6th 2005 Lieberman stated "It is time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be commander-in-chief for three more critical years, and that in matters of war we undermine Presidential credibility at our nation's peril."[22].

On June 22, 2006 Lieberman voted against two resolutions offered by other Senate Democrats proposing the United States begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. Lieberman was one of only six Democrats to vote against the more moderate of the two measures, introduced by Democratic Senators Carl Levin and Jack Reed.

Environment

Lieberman has made the Environment a signature issue. He voted against Gale Norton as Secretary of Interior. voted for funding for greater risk assessment by the EPA, and argued that the EPA has done a poor job of mercury clean-up. [23]

Terri Schiavo

Lieberman supported Florida Governor Jeb Bush's efforts to require that Terri Schiavo be kept artificially alive against the wishes of her husband, who was her legal guardian.[24]

Gun Control

Lieberman is in favor of moderate gun control. He opposes former running mate Al Gore's position in favor of requiring a license to buy a new handgun. While he has voted against prohibiting some lawsuits against gun manufacturers, he also voted for a proposal to immunize gun manufacturers from lawsuits over gun violence. He has voted to require background checks at gun shows and against allowing guns to be sold without trigger locks. [25]

Women's Rights

Lieberman is officially pro-choice, and NARAL has remained neutral in the 2006 campaign.

Nevertheless, groups such as the National Organization for Women and the Connecticut Choice Voice have opposed his recent campaigns, endorsing opponent Ned Lamont in the 2006 primary[26][27]. NOW's stated reasons for opposing Lieberman's re-election in 2006 include his refusal to filibuster right-wing judicial nominees and Lieberman's position in favor of a Connecticut bill stating that hospitals do not have to offer emergency contraceptive pills to rape victims, if to do so would be against the hospital's moral and religious beliefs.[28]

Gay Rights

Lieberman opposes the right to same-sex marriage. The gay rights organization Human Right's Campaign has nevertheless endorsed Lieberman in the 2006 election. The Human Rights Campaign wrote, "From his sponsorship and votes on workplace fairness and hate crimes legislation, to his support of comprehensive HIV/AIDS treatment, to his consistent opposition to efforts to put discrimination in the U.S. Constitution, Senator lieberman is a trusted ally in Congress. From his service in the Connecticut Legislature to his three terms in the Senate, the Senator has proven to be a reliable ally and supporter of equality." [29]

Flag Burning

Lieberman has consistently voted against movements to create an amendment in the constitution that would prohibit flag burning. [30]

Tax Reform

Lieberman has voted against much of the Bush tax plan. [31] However, in the 2004 Democratic Presidential Primary, he criticized the desire of most Democrats to repeal all or almost all of Bush's tax cuts, stating the supply side economics argument that "tax cuts are an important tool of fiscal policy to get the economy going again".[32]

Labor

Lieberman was endorsed by a strongly divided Connecticut AFL-CIO over Ned Lamont in the 2006 Democratic Primary election.[33]

Regulation of Video Games

On November 29, 2005, Lieberman, together with Hillary Clinton and Evan Bayh introduced the Family Entertainment Protection Act. The act is intended to protect children from what he believes to be inappropriate content found in video games. Lieberman has been praised by many for his stance on regulating the sales of violent video games, while others have been angered by this position. He has also been vocal in his concern over violence in music by many controversial musical artists. As a senator he inspired the advent of the Entertainment Software Rating Board. He has been known many times to denounce the violence contained in video games and has made attempts to regulate sales of violent video games to minors, and argues that games should have to be labeled based upon age-appropriateness. [34] When speaking about Grand Theft Auto, he said, "The player is rewarded for attacking a woman, pushing her to the ground, kicking her repeatedly and then ultimately killing her, shooting her over and over again. I call on the entertainment companies--they've got a right to do that, but they have a responsibility not to do it if we want to raise the next generation of our sons to treat women with respect." [35]

"The Gang of Fourteen"

On May 23, 2005, Lieberman was one of fourteen moderate senators, dubbed the "Gang of 14," who forged a compromise on the Democrats' use of the judicial filibuster, thus avoiding the Republican leadership's implementation of the so-called "nuclear option," which would have changed the procedures of the Senate. Under the agreement, the Democrats agreed to exercise the power to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee only in an "extraordinary circumstance", and three of the filibustered Bush appellate court nominees (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate, which resulted in their confirmation.

Capital Punishment

Lieberman supports capital punishment in the cases in which it is currently applied.

School Vouchers

Lieberman supports private school vouchers and is one of the few Democrats to do so. This is one reason that the Connecticut chapters of both major teachers' unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, are opposing his 2006 re-election and have endorsed primary challenger Lamont.[36]

NAFTA

Lieberman supported NAFTA and continues to do so.

Homeland Security

Lieberman sponsored the bill to create the Department of Homeland Security.

Religion

Lieberman is an Orthodox Jew. While the American public has been increasingly receptive to Jewish politicians in positions of leadership, no Jewish individual has yet been elected to either of the two high offices Lieberman has sought, the vice presidency and the presidency, although Lieberman, along with Gore, won the popular vote in 2000. Parallels have been noted to John F. Kennedy, the first and as of 2006 the only Roman Catholic President of the United States. Lieberman has said that there is currently "a constitutional place for faith in our public life." [37]

Publications

Lieberman is the author of five books: The Power Broker (1966), a biography of the late Democratic Party chairman, John M. Bailey; The Scorpion and the Tarantula (1970), a study of early efforts to control nuclear proliferation; The Legacy (1981), a history of Connecticut politics from 1930-1980; Child Support in America (1986), a guidebook on methods to increase the collection of child support from delinquent fathers, and In Praise of Public Life (2000), a spirited defense of public life that draws on personal experience.

Quotations

"It is time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that he will be commander-in-chief for three more critical years, and that in matters of war we undermine Presidential credibility at our nation's peril."[38]

"On the question that we're celebrating today, Howard Dean throughout this campaign has said he wasn't sure that Saddam really represented a threat to us. At one point he said, 'I suppose the Iraqis are better off with Saddam Hussein gone.' I would say this, and this is a choice the voters have to make in the primaries. If Howard Dean had his way, Saddam Hussein would be in power today, not in prison."

"I was in Washington in the summer of 1963, [and] had the opportunity to participate in Dr. Martin Luther King's March on Washington, which culminated at the Lincoln memorial in his soaring "I Have a Dream" speech. For me, this was America at its best. Hundreds of thousands of us, all religions, races, and nationalities, joined together peacefully but powerfully to petition our government to right the wrong of racial bigotry." [Lieberman, In Praise of Public Life, 34, 2000.

"I have consistently opposed a flag-burning amendment, and voted against its passage. Flag desecration is hateful and worthy of condemnation, and I would support any statory means possible to curtail desecration of the flag. But I believe that the importance of the Bill of Rights -- our nations founding document -- requires usto establish a very high threshold for agreeing tochange it. does the amendment address some extreme threat to our country, or redress some outrageous wrong? In this case, abhorrent though flag desecreation may be, it simply does not meet that test." [Associated Press policy Q&A, "Flag Amendment" Jan 25, 2004.]

"

The best thing we did with the Patriot Act was to sunset it. Almost 800 foreign nationals, immigrants, mostly Arab-Americans or people who looked like Arab-Americans, were arrested, put in jail, held without charges, no notification for their familiesand no right to counsel. That's un-American and I'llfight to end that. If we fight the terrorists who attacked us because of our liberties by compromising our liberties, shame on us." [CNN "Rock the Vote", Nov 5, 2003]

"I cannot help but say, however, that those who were responsible for killing 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001, never apologized. Those who have killed hundreds of Americans in uniform in Iraq working to liberate Iraq and protect our security have never apologized. And those who murdered and burned and humiliated four Americans in Fallujah a while ago never received an apology from anybody. ... But Americans are different. That's why we're outraged by this. That's why the apologies were due." -7 May 2004 [speaking as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee to U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld]

2006 re-election campaign

Main article: Connecticut U.S. Senate election, 2006

Lieberman is running for re-election to his Senate seat in the 2006 election.

Ned Lamont is the opponent to Lieberman in the Democratic primary election. Lamont distinguishes himself from Lieberman on issues including his anti-war stance and his opposition to the Patriot Act, his support of the right to same-sex marriage, support for universal health care[39], support of universal availability of pre-kindergarten public school, his opposition to capital punishment, and Lamont's refusal to accept money from lobbyists. He has also said to have pledged to spend over $1 million of his personal funds on the campaign as a show of personal commitment to the race and the state while also relying on a large number of small donors. Ned Lamont has received the backing of former U.S. Senator Lowell Weicker, who was unseated by Lieberman in 1988. While also receiving official endorsements from National Organization for Women, Democracy for America, and Moveon.org. [40] Jim Dean, director of Democracy for America and brother of Howard Dean is also supporting Lamont. Just recently Lamont received endorsements from the Connecticut chapters of both major teachers' unions. These were the first union endorsements received by either candidate in the election. Lieberman is the top recipient of Defense Aerospace contributions for the 2006 election cycle.[41]

While early in the race Lieberman led by 46 points (May 2nd, Quinnipiac) yet currently he has closed the gap to a mere 6 points according to Rasmussen. Also, in the second round of this same Rasmussen poll Lamont had closed the gap in a three way race (with Lieberman as an independent) to 15 points with Lieberman getting only 44% support (down from 56% in an earlier similarly conducted poll). [42]

Many prominent Democrats, believing that a contested Democratic primary would drain resources from other races, discouraged the Lamont candidacy prior to the Democratic state convention. Former Democratic State Chairman John Droney compared the Lamont challenge to "cannibalism" and Senator Harry Reid asked Lamont not to run. In late June after the race appeared competitive, George Jepson, the most recent State Democratic Party Chairman, endorsed Lamont.

On May 1, 2006, Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity, while discussing foreign policy with Lieberman on talk radio, endorsed his re-election campaign, saying "I don't care what the Republicans in Connecticut think about that." Later controversial conservative talk show host Bill O'Reilly endorsed Lieberman, which only increased anger from many Democrats.[43]

On May 19, Lamont received 33% of the vote, much more than was expected, at the state Democratic convention and therefore has qualified for an August 8 primary against Lieberman with more than twice the number of votes needed to force the primary.

On May 20, Connecticut Republicans nominated former Derby, Connecticut Mayor Alan Schlesinger to challenge either Lieberman or Lamont in the November election.

On May 23, 2006, Democracy for America, a political action committee founded by Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean, endorsed and began collecting donations for Ned Lamont, calling Lieberman "Bush's favorite Democrat" [44].

A Quinnipiac University poll released on June 8 found Lieberman's lead among likely Democratic primary voters was 15 points, leading Lamont 55% to 40%.

On June 12, Lamont began airing radio ads promising to endorse Lieberman if he loses the Democratic primary, and challenging Lieberman to do likewise and foreclose an independent run for the Senate, a challenge Lieberman rejected.

A June 14 poll by Rasmussen shows the race as within six points, with Lieberman leading only 46% to 40%.

File:Attackonlamont.jpg

Lieberman's Attack ad on Lamont; lampooning him as a bearcub

On June 16, 2006, Lieberman released a web-based attack ad on his campaign site aimed at Lamont's support from Lowell Weicker. Produced by political consultant, Carter Eskew, the animated ad was a sequel to a 1988 spot portraying Weicker as a sleeping bear - this time, Lamont is Weicker's "bear cub". The narrator of the ad asks, "Remember Lowell Weicker? Well, bears never forget. He's never gotten over losing his Senate race to Joe Lieberman, but instead of coming out of hibernation, he's sent his bear cub, instead. Ned Lamont." On its initial release, the ad received an extremely negative response from the blogosphere; Andrew Sullivan called it "[perhaps] the worst ad ever." [45]

Subsequently, Lieberman began airing ads focusing on his efforts to prevent the closure of the New London submarine base.

External links

• Official U.S. Senate website
• Lieberman's campaign website
• A list of Lieberman's voting records on numerous issues
• Lieberman's voting record by vote-smart
• Voting record maintained by the Washington Post
• Hartford Courant article disputing the validity of Lieberman's voting records
• Blog post of the above article, which sometimes does not load from the Courant site
• An example of opposition to Lieberman on domestic policy grounds
• About.com: The unknown Joe Lieberman- 20 surprising facts about the Democrat who angers Democrats
• The Progessive's take on Lieberman

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