Congressional Jewish Dems Attack Lieberman

Once again proving the Democratic Mantra of party OVER policy, Jews of the Democratic Party persuasion met with the press yesterday to push Senator Barack Obama's Israel qualifications and to BASH Senator Joe Lieberman for his guts to tell the truth. At the same time they announced that they have received a petition urging Democratic leaders to remove Lieberman, as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the next Congress.

In supporting the Illinois Senator for President, the Jewish Democrats had nothing substantial to say (maybe because every foreign policy adviser that Obama has hired is Anti-Israel. Read more about the press conference below:

Jewish Dem ire boils over on Lieberman

By Jared Allen and Manu Raju

Jewish Democrats are anxious that Sen. Joe Lieberman’s support for Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) will hurt their own nominee’s chances with voters of their faith.

Their increasing frustration came to a head Wednesday when liberal activists and bloggers dropped off a petition calling for Democratic leaders to remove Lieberman, an Independent from Connecticut who caucuses with the Democrats, as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the next Congress. The petition contained 43,000 signatures.

But their frustration also has been building for months. And many of them have silently gritted their teeth while one of the most well-known Jewish members of Congress, who served as their vice presidential candidate in 2000, has sought to drive Jews even further from presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

“Joe Lieberman, a friend of mine, just sees life differently,” Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said recently. “And so it’s too bad. We miss him.”

Lautenberg has been one of the most vocal Jewish lawmakers working to refute Lieberman’s claims that McCain, not Obama, offers the best path on dealing with IranIsrael. and securing the safety of

Before the Fourth of July recess, Lautenberg and other Jewish lawmakers joined the National Jewish Democratic Council to drudge up a three-year-old vote on an amendment to a defense authorization bill to charge that McCain’s rhetoric does not match his voting record on tough economic sanctions for Iran.

The press conference, also attended by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), was designed to cast doubt about McCain’s credentials on Israel while trumpeting Obama’s.

Lautenberg, who said he was saddened by Lieberman’s notable absence at the press conference, acknowledged that his fellow members of the faith have their work cut out for them in this area.

“I believe there are some misunderstandings, yes, and I’ve seen it directly in conversations I’ve had with people,” Lautenberg said. “And people don’t know Obama, and there are suspicions being supported by what’s being thrown out by the Republicans.”

Lieberman stunned Democrats when, almost immediately following Obama’s securing of the nomination, he participated in a conference call organized by the McCain campaign where he criticized Obama for appearing to blame American foreign policy for much of the current tension between Iran and Israel.

“I’m certainly disappointed that he [Lieberman] would be such an active part of the campaign,” Schakowsky said this week. “I feel disappointed as a Jew, but primarily as a Democrat, and around a whole myriad of issues.”

But Schakowsky argues that Lieberman’s support of McCain will have little lasting impact on Jewish Americans.

“As the campaign goes on we’ll see that Jewish voters — who aren’t single-issue voters — will show the same kind of support for Obama, in the 75 percent range, that John Kerry got in 2004,” she said.

But getting those numbers will count on the ability of Jewish Democrats to close the gap created, in part, by Lieberman.

In the meantime, Democrats are treading lightly on how to handle the Connecticut senator.

Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said no decisions have been made on ousting Lieberman as chairman.

“Something like that wouldn’t really be talked about until the end of the year,” Stabenow said.

Lieberman said he’s “not worried” about the pressure from Democrats and activists.

“I’m going to do what I think is right, try to make the government work, and not worry about what political effect [that] may have a year, two years or three years from now,” Lieberman said.

That calculation includes convincing Jewish leaders to back McCain, even if it means making the case that Obama would not be the leader Israel would want.

When asked about concerns he is creating the impression that Obama would not be a friend to Israel, Lieberman responded: “It’s my way of thinking that if I’ve concluded, as I have, that John McCain is best for our country, then why wouldn’t I do that?”

And that remains a tough pill for Democrats to swallow.

“I would hope that Joe Lieberman would know better,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said. “I don’t know if this means he is transitioning to become a Republican. Again, I would hope not. I mean, he’s a positive member of this body, and I just hate to see this all happen this way.”