A VOTE FOR McCAIN IS A VOTE FOR MORE ZIONIST WARS
Senator Joseph Lieberman, an Orthodox Judaic, has emerged as Senator
John McCain's handler. Lieberman "might be rewarded for his support with
another shot at the vice presidency, or a Cabinet post in a future
McCain administration."
***
JOE RIDES SHOTGUN AS McCAIN'S STRAIGHT-TALK EXPRESS ROLLS ON
By Jennifer Siegel | Forward (NY newspaper) | Jan 30, 2008
Man Of Faith: Lieberman is expected to help McCain among both Jewish and
evangelical voters.
In more than a quarter-century of public life, John McCain has been
called a lot of things. But this week, on the cusp of what proved to be
a pivotal win in the Florida Republican primary, one of his leading
supporters bestowed upon the Arizona senator a new title: ?Maccabee.?
?McCain is definitely part Maccabeean,? Senator Joseph Lieberman said,
referring to the band of dissidents whose unlikely victory over the
Greeks is commemorated by the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. ?He?s got that
spirit.?
Lieberman is certainly a good judge, given his own history with
unexpected success ? including his decision to endorse McCain last
December, before McCain?s campaign had fully rebounded from a
near-collapse last summer.
Since then, Lieberman has been one of McCain?s most prominent promoters,
lending help by soliciting donations from Connecticut contacts and
actively stumping on the campaign trail. Now, after a stretch that has
seen wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida, McCain seems to
have bounded to the top of the Republican field and, in the process,
catapulted one of America?s most famous Jewish politicians back onto the
national stage.
According to observers, Lieberman?s support has been unusually helpful
to McCain, giving him a boost with independent voters who contributed to
his wins in South Carolina and New Hampshire. In Florida, Lieberman
helped give the Arizona senator an edge by turning out Jews, as well as
Cuban Americans, in the southern part of the state.
But the real surprise may be yet to come. According to a Lieberman aide
who spoke on the condition of anonymity, if McCain wins the nomination,
Lieberman is also likely to play a growing role in shoring up what at
first blush would not seem to be one of his core constituencies:
Christian evangelicals.
?He?s one of those unique campaign surrogates who can travel both in the
Jewish community and the Christian community, as well,? the aide said.
?I would suspect that as the campaign goes further, Senator Lieberman
will probably be active on that front, as well.?
So active, in fact, that speculation has already begun that Lieberman,
possibly uninterested in running for a fifth Senate term in 2012, might
be rewarded for his support with another shot at the vice presidency, or
a Cabinet post in a future McCain administration.
In an interview with the Forward, Lieberman said his decision to support
McCain was based on their longstanding relationship and on their history
of cooperation on a range of issues, including intervention in Bosnia,
action on global warming, the creation of the 9/11 Commission and
continued military involvement in Iraq.
?Look, we have been drawn together because we have similar worldviews,?
Lieberman told the Forward, adding that they both have the ?feeling
America has a unique role in the world, of taking the Declaration of
Independence seriously. It?s a universal declaration of human rights,
and our foreign policy is always better when it?s based on democratic
values.?
In 2000, Lieberman, on the ticket with Al Gore, made history as the
first Jewish vice presidential nominee. Six years after his and Gore?s
famously fraught battle against George W. Bush, Lieberman was again
forced into a hotly contested race when he was defeated in the
Democratic primary for the Senate seat he had held for 17 years. He won
re-election as an Independent, without the support of his Democratic
colleagues. Although Lieberman still caucuses with the Democrats,
ensuring their razor-thin majority in the Senate, his relationship with
the party has grown increasingly cold.
?In 2000, he was one of the standard-bearers of the Democratic Party,
and now he?s supporting a Republican for president. It?s insane,? said
one Democratic strategist who did not want to be named, for fear of
antagonizing Lieberman. ?Everybody thinks it?s ridiculous or wrong, but
nobody wants to say it, because nobody wants him to bolt the party ? at
least until January.?
By then, it might not matter. In the view of some observers, Lieberman?s
endorsement will be well worth the sacrifice.
?It?s a win for him no matter what happens, because it is his way of
saying, ?See, I gotcha,? to those who abandoned him,? said Hank
Sheinkopf, a New York-based Democratic consultant who worked on Bill
Clinton?s 1996 re-election campaign.
Moreover, the Connecticut senator has worked to protect his
relationships with some of his old Democratic friends. Earlier this
month, while he was in Florida, stumping for McCain, Lieberman took time
out to visit Mitchell Berger, a prominent Fort Lauderdale lawyer and
Democratic fundraiser who is backing John Edwards for president.
?We shared a conversation, and I told him that I disagreed with what he
did,? said Berger, who served as the national finance co-chair for
Lieberman?s ill-fated presidential bid in 2004. ?But we are 20-odd year
friends, and after all these years, Senator Lieberman has stood for good
things on all these other issues.?
A similar sentiment was expressed by the national chairman of the
National Jewish Democratic Council, Miami-based Michael Adler, who
served as national co-chair of Senator Joseph Biden?s recently failed
presidential bid and is now backing Senator Hillary Clinton.
Now, in his new role as a campaigner for McCain, Lieberman has tapped
his base of supporters for a member of the GOP. A fundraising letter,
written by Lieberman on behalf of McCain, has gone out to a list of
Lieberman?s contacts in Connecticut, according to the Lieberman aide.
In his potential outreach to evangelical Christians, Lieberman could
trade on a relationship rooted in a shared concern for the safety of
Israel, as well the respect many evangelicals have for Lieberman?s
Orthodox Jewish background and for his activism on values issues like
violence in the media.
Lieberman is friendly with Richard Land, who is a prominent leader in
the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in
the United States. (Lieberman contributed the foreword to Land?s 2007
book, ?The Divided States of America?: What Liberals and Conservatives
Are Missing in the God-and-Country Shouting Match?).
Lieberman also has a relationship with San Antonio-based megachurch
pastor John Hagee, founder of the grass-roots group Christians United
for Israel. In recent years, CUFI has added the voice of the Christian
right to the pro-Israel lobby and has raised money for philanthropy in
Israel; last summer, Lieberman addressed the group?s annual summit in
Washington.
According to Lieberman, the role of ambassador ? political or religious
? is one in which he?s comfortable. He recalled a trip he took to Israel
with McCain in 2006. It fell during Hanukkah, and one night, at a dinner
hosted by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Lieberman found himself
lighting the candles and telling the story of the holiday.
McCain ?was really fascinated,? Lieberman said. ?He was quite taken with
the Maccabees.? |
