Joe Lieberman Goes McCain

Joe Lieberman Has GUTS. Thrown out of the Democratic Party, he runs and wins as an independent. Now showing his true independence tomorrow morning at 8am he will announce his endorsement of REPUBLICAN John McCain for President:

Joe Lieberman to Endorse John McCain for President

Sunday , December 16, 2007

WASHINGTON —

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat who ran as an independent last election after losing his primary re-election, will endorse Republican Sen. John McCain on Monday.

FOX News contributor Bill Kristol, who publishes The Weekly Standard and is a longtime McCain supporter, was first to break the news on his Web site.

The McCain campaign told FOX News earlier that it was holding a "newsworthy" town hall meeting at 8 a.m. Monday but would not give details. On Sunday, the campaign said the meeting was to announce an endorsement, but did not say whose.

However, a senior Lieberman aide told FOX News on Sunday that Lieberman was approached by McCain, a longtime friend and ally, a couple of weeks ago and asked for the endorsement.

The two had just traveled together, once again, to Iraq for the Thanksgiving holiday. Lieberman has long said he would let the process "play itself out" -- meaning, not endorse a candidate early, but according to the aide, "Lieberman just thought McCain was clearly the most qualified candidate (of the entire '08 line-up) to be commander in chief from day one so rather than just observe from the sidelines, the senator now hopes to actually influence the process."

The aide said Lieberman was not courted by anyone else in the race.

"I think McCain is the only one who asked for the senator's endorsement," he added.

In a pre-emptive comment against the questions that will inevitably come and that have swirled around the senator since his own contentious 2006 re-election, when he was knocked out of the Democratic primary by a political neophyte because of his pro-Iraq position, Lieberman is not switching parties.

"This is in no way an endorsement of the (Republican) Party, just the man," the aide said, adding that McCain did not ask Lieberman to join his ticket in the vice presidential slot.

Lieberman "just wants to serve as a U.S. senator, nothing more," the aide said. Lieberman was the Democrats' vice presidential candidate in the 2000 race alongside Al Gore.

The McCain-Lieberman relationship is decades old. The two worked closely together on Kosovo and the Balkans issues in the early 1990s, and "really cemented their friendship" by hosting an annual trip to Munich each year for the Conference on Security Policy. Both men also pushed legislation, against the Bush administration's wishes, that eventually led to the establishment of the Sept. 11 commission.

Lieberman made his decision one week ago, but due to some scheduling issues, it had to wait until now. The endorsement could end up taking place in Washington, however, because Mother Nature has not been helping the candidates in New Hampshire. McCain cancelled an event in the state on Sunday night, leaving Duncan Hunter the sole Republican candidate in the state.

McCain is polling second to Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, 33-20, according to the latest FOX News-Opinion Dynamics poll. That poll, taken Dec. 11-13, of 500 likely New Hampshire Republican voters had a 3 percent margin of error.

McCain won the New Hampshire Republican primary in 2000. He has scored the endorsement of the Manchester Union-Leader, New Hampshire's only statewide newspaper, and on Sunday won the backing of The Boston Globe in the state where Romney used to be governor.

"As a lawmaker and as a candidate, McCain has done more than his share to transcend partisanship and promote an honest discussion of the problems facing the United States. He deserves the opportunity to represent his party in November's election," wrote The Globe's editorial board, which admittedly does not agree with McCain on much.

FOX News' Trish Turner contributed to this report.