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Jews are going to use John
From the Jewish magazine
http://www.forward.com/articles/12586/
Joe Rides Shotgun As McCain's Straight Talk Express' Rolls On
By Jennifer Siegel Forward
(NY Newspaper)
2-2-8
A 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."
From the Jewish magazine
http://www.forward.com/articles/12586/
Joe Rides Shotgun As McCain's Straight Talk Express' Rolls On
By Jennifer Siegel Forward
(NY Newspaper)
2-2-8
A 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."