"Non-Combatant" Lieberman Won't Back Democratic Candidates
    By Melinda Tuhus
    New Haven Independent

    Friday 25 August 2006

    Declaring himself a "non-combatant," U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, in remarks at a New Haven press event Friday, raised anew the question of whether his "independent" candidacy will help Republicans hold onto three Congressional seats in Connecticut - and control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

    Lieberman - who after losing an Aug. 8 Democratic primary to Ned Lamont has launched a third-party bid to hold onto his seat in the Nov. 7 general election - was asked whether he still endorses Diane Farrell, Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy, three Democrats looking to unseat endangered Republican incumbents Chris Shays, Rob Simmons and Nancy Johnson.

    "I'm a non-combatant," Lieberman declared. "I am not going to be involved in other campaigns. I think it's better if I just focus on my own race."

    Lieberman made the remarks at a Friday morning photo op held in the rain under an I-95 overpass in the Fair Haven neighborhood to tout his role in bringing $50 million to the state to help ease transportation gridlock.

    "It's a little awkward for me now" to endorse the Democratic candidates in the general election, he said, "since they all endorsed my opponent," Democratic primary winner Ned Lamont.

    The comment was significant because analysts from both major parties believe that Lieberman's campaign could help the three Republicans keep their jobs in the face of tough challenges. Lieberman's strongest support - 75 percent in the most recent Quinnipiac poll - comes from Republicans. If he succeeds in drawing more Republican voters to the polls to support his candidacy, that could help the Republican Congressional candidates. Those three races are considered among the 10 most competitive Congressional races in the country; both parties consider the races key to deciding which party controls the House in 2007. National Republican strategists and donors have come forward to help Lieberman's campaign; party leaders have abandoned the nominal Republican in the Senate race, Alan Schlesinger. Prominent Republicans like Shays and former Republican House leader Newt Gingrich have endorsed Lieberman.

    Lieberman laughed Friday when asked if he was endorsing the three Republican Congressional candidates instead. He subsequently said they hadn't asked for his endorsement.

    The crowd that gathered Firday was full of union supporters, including laborers who chivalrously poured stones from front loaders to fill in big puddles so the media could traipse out under the highway.

    Two of those long-time supporters are Robert Buynsik, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 443, and Anthony Inorio, from Laborers Local 455. They reminisced about their support for Joe going back 25 years. "Joe has not changed his positions," Inorio said. "He is strong in his convictions."

    Lieberman was introduced by Don Shubert, a founder of Keep Connecticut Moving, a group that pulls together industrial associations, chambers of commerce and labor groups to advocate for improvement in the state's transportation infrastructure.

    "It's been great to work with you over the years to fight for and win more transportation money for Connecticut," Lieberman told the enthusiastic crowd, most decked out in red T-shirts. He pointed out that money for transportation not only benefits commuters, but the economy as a whole, and creates jobs. And, he said, that kind of cooperation illustrates "the first principle of my public life - old divisions don't work to get things done. When business and labor get together, Connecticut wins."

    One Man's Pork

    His press release unabashedly labeled the $50 million an "earmark" - known as "pork" by those on the other side of the issue. Democrat Ned Lamont has criticized earmarks as a way for incumbents to "bring home the bacon" while busting the federal budget. Lieberman agreed Friday that there are "good earmarks and bad earmarks" but admitted he couldn't think of a bad Connecticut earmark.

    Asked for his response to Lamont's criticism of his role in the Hurricane Katrina debacle (primarily voting to confirm Michael Brown as head of FEMA with no real debate), Lieberman said he has criticized the Bush administration's handling of it. He noted that he co-chaired, with Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a b-partisan commission that spread the blame all around, from the feds to the state of Louisiana to the administration of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. The report included 88 recommendations to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again. He said proof that his role has been appreciated in Katrina country is that Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu is one of the few Democrats to stick with him after his loss in the primary.

    He called Lamont "the great distortionist" for attacking his response to Katrina. "And what was he doing about it?" he asked rhetorically.