Did Obama really support Lieberman?

[KoKo]

Obama Endorses Lieberman for Senate
By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2006
Posted on Sat Apr 01, 2006 at 11:50:09 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)

The New York Times reports that Joe Lieberman did not command the attention or respect of his audience at a fundraising event in Connecticut Thursday night.

Three times on Thursday night, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman asked the crowd of 1,700 for quiet during his remarks at the state Democrats' annual Jefferson Jackson Bailey fund-raising dinner. "Shhh," he told the guests. But rather than interrupting him with applause, many were ignoring him, having struck up conversations after finishing their chicken.

The inattentiveness -- as well as the scattered boos amid the supportive calls of "Joe" that welcomed Mr. Lieberman to the podium -- convinced some that the three-term senator, criticized for months because of his continued support for the war in Iraq, may be vulnerable in the primary challenge he faces.

Who came to his rescue? Sen. Barak Obama, with a ringing endorsement.

"I know that some in the party have differences with Joe," Senator Obama said, all but silencing the crowd. "I'm going to go ahead and say it. It's the elephant in the room. And Joe and I don't agree on everything. But what I know is, Joe Lieberman's a man with a good heart, with a keen intellect, who cares about the working families of America."

Then, with applause beginning to build, he finished the thought: "I am absolutely certain that Connecticut's going to have the good sense to send Joe Lieberman back to the United States Senate." That time, people cheered loudly.

Nonetheless, Ned Lamont's people were very happy. Ned also was in attendance, sitting with Howard Dean's brother.

Tom Swan, Mr. Lamont's campaign manager, said he had been wary of attending the dinner, given his campaign's outsider status. "I thought I was going to feel like I was on a hunting trip with Dick Cheney, but when we went into that room it was anything but," he said. "There is no doubt in anybody's mind who follows politics in Connecticut that Ned Lamont can win the Democratic primary after last night."

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:tpUkrFf3nzkJ:talkleft.com/new_archives/014444.html+Obama+,+Lieberman&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a

[illinoisprogressive]

1. never heard one way or another. He did give some kind of endorsement to lamont

but, I think Obama did pretty much what the other dems did.
Obama is not a big fan of Leibermans but, you cannot show alot to coworkers how you really feel about them.

[Warpy]

2. Lieberman was Obama's mentor

for his freshman term in the Senate. There is some controversy about how this happened; Lieberman claims Obama chose him and other sources say he was assigned. Whatever happened, it changed Obama for the worse.

Obama supported Liberman in the primary, but stated he'd support the Democratic candidate in the election, and that's about as far as it went.

[liberalpragmatist]

6. How did it "change Obama for the worse"?

Obama has one of the most progressive voting records in the Senate. He doesn't have a confrontational style, but a pragmatic one, and that's been his style even in the State Senate and all the way back at the Harvard Law Review - he was elected Harvard Law Review president, in fact, because even though he was an outspoken liberal on the staff, the conservatives supported him because they believed him to be fairer and more respectful of their views than the other liberals on the staff.

[Warpy]

9. Compare his speeches from 2003 with those today

Back then, he spoke in terms of specifics.

Today, it's all generalities. He's a mesmerizing speaker, but there's little content beyond platitudes.

[liberalpragmatist]

3. Yes, he endorsed Lieberman in the primary; so did Barbara Boxer

Nearly all the Senate Democrats gave their support for Lieberman in the primary, including Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer, Frank Lautenberg, and Obama. Barbara Boxer even campaigned for him and held several events for him. Obama didn't campaign for Lieberman, but he did endorse him at the Jackson-Jefferson Dinner. And Obama said he considered Lieberman "a close friend."

A few senators - notably Kerry and Feingold - stayed neutral in the primary. None of them endorsed Lamont in the primary.

After Lamont won the nomination, all the Senate Dems endorsed him except for Salazar, Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Tom Carper and one or two others. Obama did endorse Lamont, although he faced some criticism because he didn't campaign for Lamont. He gave Lamont a check for $2000 and sent out a fundraising email on his behalf, but otherwise stayed out of the race.

[Exultant Democracy]

4. Before the primary he did support Lieberman, during the general he supported Lamont

he made visits for each of them.

[Larkspur]

8. Obama never came to CT to campaign with Lamont

He was on a book tour that took him close to Connecticut, but Obama never bothered to really help Lamont.

[ripple]

11. He never bothered to really help Lieberman, either

He did what most of the other dems did: he supported Lieberman as the incumbent dem, then supported Lamont as the dem nominee. He also donated money to Lamont, as did other dems.

I don't believe Lieberman was ever his mentor, other that perhaps learning the rules and procedural stuff about the senate. Their positions on Iraq make it pretty clear that they don't have much in common ideologically.

[JI7]

17. he did campaign for Lieberman unlike for Lamont

i do question the stuff about Lieberman being his mentor though.

[madfloridian]

10. Last I heard he never went to CT for Lamont....

though he said he would.

[youngdem]

5. If the account is true, Obama is just doing the politics thing

Lieberman is extremely important. He could really fuck up the party for the Dems by switching parties, so the party leadership has to play nice until he can be opposed in a primary. Until then, being an asshole to him just risks the majority and makes life more difficult.

Lamont is gonna run Lieberman into the ground after all of this shit Holy Joe LIEberman is pulling -- so let Joe have his day. He won't be able to wash all of that blood off of his hands, when Lamont points out that Lieberman often held the key in preventing measures with strength from being put forward with confidence.

Hopefully in 08, we will get the WH and pick up a few more seats so Holy Joe isn't so important, and we can begin to isolate him with shitty assignments and begin to raise money to destroy him.

Fuck you, Joe LIEberman. But Obama is just being smart here.

[Boo Boo]

12. Nice rationalization, but not really supported by the facts.

When Obama was elected to the Senate, he chose Lieberman as his mentor. Mentors are usually chosen for a freshman member, but Obama chose Lieberman himself. Obama endorsed Lieberman. Obama uses some of the same sort of "divisiveness" rhetoric that Lieberman does. IMO, it's a DLC thing.

As a black Senator with Presidential aspirations, Obama has to convince the DLC wing of the Party that they can trust the black guy to take care of their business. He also has to convince the AIPAC wing of the Party that they can trust the black guy with the muslim name to take care of Israel. With Joe Lieberman he was killing two birds with one stone.

So, I agree with you in a way. I suspect Obama was just being smart. I think he chose Lieberman in a calculated move to curry favor with important power centers within the Democratic Party. But, whatever the case may be, his relationship with Lieberman predates the midterm elections, going all the way back to the beginning of his term in the Senate. He was not just trying to stop Lieberman from bolting the Party.

[youngdem]

19. Thanks for the info.

Was not aware of the mentor relationship.

[John Q. Citizen]

7. In the primary, no big deal. Hey, Gore picked him for VP. Different day and time.

[zulchzulu]

13. Well lookee here...so did Senator Clinton...

"Obviously, I hope he wins tomorrow," Mrs. Clinton, a Democrat of New York, said. But her low-key backing, extracted from her in answer to a reporter's question, came with a pledge, rather less reassuring to Mr. Lieberman, that she would stand behind whoever became the Democratic Party's nominee.

http://www.nysun.com/article/37462

Just as Obama gave his support while saying he didn't agree with him on everything, Senator Clinton did her Democratic Party marching orders. I wouldn't have...but politics is... politics.

[bling bling]

14. Obama endorsed a Democrat??? That's it. He's toast.

Really I'm starting to think we ought to tell Obama to take a hike from the party. This guy has a lot of nerve running for President with a track record of:

1) Not being DLC
2) Taking a stand AGAINST the Iraq War before it even happened
3) Endorsing Democrats
4) Being influential and getting people excited about someone on the Democratic side of the aisle
5) Standing up for himself with witty and spot-on retorts against right-wing hack attacks

Great post, and super dooper telling and relevant. The truth can never escape the wary eyes of those over-zealously looking to dog Obama. This Obama guy needs to check himself and quit endorsing incumbant Democrats running for office or he's going to wreck himself with the DU.

[k_jerome]

15. whats wrong with Democrats supporting Democrats. lots of people backed...

Lieberman before he lost to Lamont.

[AtomicKitten]

16. OMG -- cats and dogs living together!

[Freddie Stubbs]

18. Yes, and many other Democrats supported Lieberman in the primary also

[depakid]

20. "who cares about the working families of America."

That statement shows me that Obama was either being:

1. Dishonest or was

2. Ignorant about Lieberman's record with respect to deregulation (and abuses of) of the financial and insurance industries (not to mention his vote for cloture on the bankruptcy bill).

[cali]

21. LOL. Yet another attempt by

a member of the "purity" faction here at DU to smear dirt on Obama. What a shock. I wonder if the OP would care to grace us with who she thinks we should be supporting? Could his initials be DK?