ST. PAUL, Minn. – Former Democratic veep candidate Joe Lieberman rapped Barack Obama at the GOP convention last night, calling him too green and too partisan for the nation’s top job – and urged Democrats to cross party lines and support Republican John McCain because “he’s no ordinary candidate.”
“Sen. Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead, but eloquence is no substitute for a record – not in these tough times,” Lieberman said.
Sen. Lieberman, a former Democrat and now a registered independent, was one of the most-anticipated convention speakers.
He insisted Obama “has not reached across party lines to get anything significant done, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party.”
The night’s theme was “service,” but the red meat was quickly tossed to the crowd.
The Connecticut senator – who was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000 – has been a major booster of McCain and was on his vice-presidential short list.
The independent hailed his fellow senator’s record on military support and willingness to back the troop surge in Iraq.
He said Obama voted “to cut off funding for our troops on the ground,” adding that McCain “had the courage to stand against the tide of public opinion and support the surge, and because of that, today, our troops are at last beginning to come home, not in failure, but in honor.”
He said Democrats are trying to paint McCain as “someone else,” adding, “I’m here, as a Democrat myself, to tell you: Don’t be fooled. God only made one John McCain, and he is his own man.”
Then, addressing those outside the Xcel Center, he said, “Tonight, I ask you whether you are an independent, a Reagan Democrat or a Clinton Democrat, or just a Democrat. This year, when you vote for president, vote for the person you believe is best for the country, not for the party you happen to belong to.”
Lieberman traditionally votes with the Democrats in the Senate. Earlier, President Bush addressed the convention via video from the White House, after missing his scheduled appearance Monday when Hurricane Gustav spurred the GOP to scale back its schedule. He invoked the 9/11 terror attacks as he made the case for McCain.
“We live in a dangerous world,” the president said. “And we need a president who understands the lessons of September 11, 2001 – that to protect America, we must stay on the offense, stop attacks before they happen, and not wait to be hit again.
“The man we need is John McCain,” Bush added – in words that were a sharp departure from his nasty verbal exchanges with McCain in the 2000 GOP primaries.
He also praised McCain’s support for the troop surge.
After Bush, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee mocked Obama, saying, “The Democrats present a history-making nominee for president. History-making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for president.”
He added that the respect McCain “is given around the world is not because of a TelePrompTer speech designed to appeal to American critics abroad, but because of decades of clearly demonstrated character and statesmanship.”
Team Obama said none of the speakers hit the major voter issue – the economy. A spokesman said McCain’s “belief that we’ve made ‘great progress’ economically over the last eight years means he doesn’t have to offer any plans at all to fix our ailing economy.”