Lieberman Meets With New Democrat Coalition to Discuss Presidential Run
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON–Presidential candidate and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) met with House members of the centrist New Democrat Coalition Wednesday in a closed-door session to discuss his plans for a presidential bid and the possibility of war with Iraq.
After meeting with the group, which has 74 moderate House Democrats as members including Rep. John Larson, (D-1), Lieberman said he made sure to address his colleagues as “fellow New Democrats,” to emphasize that he is a New Democrat himself.
“I said when I declared (for president) that I was a New Democrat or a different kind of Democrat, and it has been a pleasure and an honor to work for them over the years,” Lieberman said. “It is an honor now to come to them as a candidate for president of the United States.”
Larson, in an interview last night, said he felt Lieberman’s comments were well received by the New Democrats in attendance at their annual “Top of the Year” meeting.
“I thought he did an extraordinary job and I think he made a great impression,” Larson said. “As one of the co-founders of the organization, he was talking to a group that has great admiration for him.”
The New Democrats also heard from Democratic presidential hopefuls Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. Larson said Lieberman and Kerry stood out “head and shoulders above the others.”
“Obviously, I may be a tad prejudice, and clearly with Joe, I think today he did an extraordinary job,” Larson said. “I think a number of heads were nodding.
“I think he’s off to a tremendous start,” he said.
Although President George W. Bush has also been off to a great start, according to approval ratings, which have been high – but declining – since the Sept. 11 attacks, Lieberman said he thinks the Democratic Party can take back the Oval Office in the next presidential election, but only if the party’s candidate is a “New Democrat.”
“I feel very strongly that we can win the White House in 2004, that it is in America’s interest that there is new leadership in the White House.”
Pointing to himself as an example, Lieberman said the best candidate for office would be a Democrat who is “strong on security, strong on values, willing to separate from the party when it is in the national interest and willing to work with members of the other party to get things done…”
Additionally, Lieberman said Bush had not followed the lead of the Clinton administration, not figuring out how to “get the economy going, create jobs, grow and protect the middle class, renew the American dream – all we learned about that in the 90’s.”
Lieberman also defended himself when asked if he thought associating himself with a group like the New Democrat Coalition could harm his reputation in a primary where he is competing with other Democrats.
“That’s who I am, that’s who I’ve been, and that’s who I’m going to be,” Lieberman said. “So far, I’m encouraged by the response I’ve received throughout the country.”
The junior senator said he would not change his beliefs or ideals to give him a better chance at winning the nomination.
“I’m going to be myself and ultimately the voters look for someone they can trust to do what he or she thinks is right for the country,” Lieberman said.
With the stock market falling and terrorist attacks always an issue, Lieberman addressed the fact that Americans are looking for an honest person who can bring a much-needed jolt to the economy.
“These are tough times economically and in terms of their security and many people don’t want politics,” Lieberman said. “They want somebody they can trust and somebody who will work across party lines to get the economy going again.”
Lieberman also discussed U.S. foreign policy and said that after he went on a trip with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to central Asia last January, he realized brute force alone would not help the United States defeat the terrorists.
“We’re not going to win the war on terrorism just with the sword,” Lieberman said. “We’ve got to use plowshares as well, and we’ve got to use the course of our values and ideas.”
Lieberman, one of the more hawkish Democrats in Congress when it comes to possible war with Iraq, said he believes Bush, in his Tuesday address, made a more convincing case for the country to go to war. But Lieberman said he had doubts about the way Iraq would be dealt with after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
“I don’t see adequate steps by the administration to be prepared for the day after our victory in Iraq,” Lieberman said.
Lieberman said he felt it was important to keep military personnel in Iraq to secure the country and maintain peace, something that has proved difficult in Afghanistan.
“On the day after we achieve victory in Iraq and Saddam is gone our responsibilities and our opportunities just begin and that means we have to have a continuing international military presence to secure Iraq.”
The victory over Iraq would not just be one celebrated by Americans, Lieberman said, but also by Iraqi citizens.
“I believe on the day that Saddam Hussein falls, the happiest people in the world will be the Iraqi people,” Lieberman said. “We Americans are going to be a close second, but they’re going to be the happiest, and we have an obligation to fulfill their hopes.”
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
