Obama Confronts Lieberman On McCain Advocacy, Tone, on Senate Floor!

[IEATV8S]

June 05, 2008 11:27 AM

Sen. Joe Lieberman, the self-described "Independent Democrat" who caucuses with the Democratic party in the Senate even though he has endorsed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, got some tough talk from Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, yesterday about his advocacy for the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and the general tone of the campaign, Democratic sources tell ABC News.

Returning to the Senate after his securing the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama and Lieberman greeted each on the Senate floor in the Well as they were voting on the budget resolution.

They shook hands. But Obama didn’t let go, leading Lieberman - cordially - by the hand across the room into a corner on the Democratic side, where Democratic sources tell ABC News he delivered some tough words for the junior senator from Connecticut, who had just minutes before hammered Obama's speech before the pro-Israel group AIPAC in a conference call arranged by the McCain campaign.

Watch video of the encounter on the Senate floor HERE.

The two spoke intensely for approximately five minutes, with no one able to hear their conversation. Reporters watched as Obama leaned closely in to Lieberman, whose back was literally up against the wall.

Neither party is officially talking. But while Lieberman spokesman Marshall Whitman says the conversation was "a cordial and friendly discussion" and Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton says it was "private and friendly," Democratic sources tell ABC News that the conversation was a stern rebuke to Lieberman for his criticism of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee as had just happened on the conference call, as well as a discussion about how far Lieberman is willing to go in his advocacy of McCain, and the tone of the campaign.

"It's one thing to support McCain," said one Democratic source, "but many think Uncle Joe has gone too far."

Obama campaigned for Lieberman in 2006 when he was challenged (and ultimately defeated) in his primary race for his Senate seat. When Lieberman opted to run as an independent, Obama wrote a supportive email endorsing Democratic nominee Ned Lamont, but he did not appear in person for him, unlike other Democrats, such as Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.*

On the McCain conference call yesterday, Lieberman congratulated Obama "in securing the Democratic nomination and to express my own hope as a supporter of John McCain that this will be a civil and constructive campaign debate from here to November."

The only Orthodox Jew in the U.S. Senate then criticized the White House hopeful's speech to the Jewish pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, saying, "I would say respectfully that I thought in this speech that there was a disconnect between things Senator Obama said today in particularly with regards to Iran and things that he has said or done earlier either in the campaign and senate. To be specific, I was troubled earlier in the year during the campaign season when Senator Obama referred to, I guess compared Iran and other rogue and terrorists states to the Soviet Union and minimized the threat represented by Iran. I think that is wrong."

Lieberman also criticized Obama for voting against an amendment he offered with Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., that designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group, and included other language that Obama said linked the war in Iraq to Iran in a way that troubled him. "Senator Obama opposed it saying it was saber rattling and referring to the possible threat of military force," Lieberman said. "But if you look at the Kyl-Liebermann Amendment as it was passed, it has none of that in it, regarding military action. I was hoping and I still hope that he will say that that vote was a mistake, and that he would support that resolution."

"Obama today argued that American foreign policy in recent years has essentially sort of strengthened Iran," Lieberman continued. "At one point, he almost seems to suggest that it helped to elect us Ahmadinejad, and has made Israel safe. I just disagree with that. Iran elected Ahmadinejad for their own reasons. If Israel is in danger today, it’s not because of American foreign policy which has been strongly supportive of Israel in every way, it is not because what we have done in Iraq, it is because Iran is a fanatical terrorist, expansionist state and has a leader and a leadership that constantly threatens to extinguish the state of Israel."

“Its a difficult situation,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, the Senate Democrats' Assistant Majority Leader and a major Obama backer, told reporters Wednesday, according to Roll Call. “Joe is my friend ... but I hope he doesn’t become the lead attack dog. Of course it’s a concern when someone in your Caucus is supporting the other party’s candidate. Let’s not try and sugarcoat it."

Lieberman agreed to caucus with the Democrats, who need his vote in the narrowly-divided Senate, in order to maintain power. But the Nutmeg stater is testing the patience of Democratic leaders by endorsing McCain and agreeing to speak at the Republican National Convention in September. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told MSNBC they would "watch very closely" how far Lieberman takes his advocacy.

But Obama may feel Lieberman has already taken it too far.



Watch out Joe! The Obomonation is going to take away your seating priveleges in the Senate Restaurant!!!!!!

[Turbo RX-6]

So what are thew Dems gonna do, kick him out of thier caucus and lose more of the the razor edge they have? Their blowing smoke up peoples asses to look tough.

[salvageV6]

That's why I stay in CT.

Just to vote for Joe over losers like Lamont, and to piss off the lying lefties.

Right Quirker.

Beats the swamps of FLA anyday.

[a trail rider]

Joe is bound to make them angrier still, and with good reason. The Obama campaign has shown a rather harsh disregard for Israel and Lieberman is "jewish." That makes sense to me, although I'm not a huge supporter of Israel. That is to say, they can and should take take of themselves pretty well if needbe.

Not only that, but Joe supports winning this war and Democrats clearly do not. Aside from being impartial to victory, Democrats obviously want us to leave Iraq and with it, leave open ends open, which could and almost certianly would create a stronger Iran. And of course, Iran is hopeful this will happen because they'd much rather fight with Iraq than with America and if they could win there, Israel would be a sure attack victim. If we remain in Iraq until it is able to fully support itself in the middle east, Iran probably won't dare attack Iraq, and with that option off the table, would also have to wait to attack Israel, unsure who may take great offense in the region alone, not including America, which it fears the most simply because we can most easily defeat Iran in military conflict.

When Joe switched to Independent, I gained respect for him because he showed a backbone, which most Democrats, particularly those in power, unquestionably lack on their own.

So do we need to wonder what Obama had to say? I doubt it, since he's obviously mad at Lieberman too. He wants Joe's support and is upset that he can't get that support. Barack need not be confused about this... He won't get Joe's support over McCain. He wants it, but it isn't gonna happen.