Lieberman on Newt: "He Doesn't Vote Here" [View All]

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http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2006/08/lieberman_neith.php

Lieberman on Newt: "He Doesn't Vote Here"

U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman said at a reelection campaign stop in New Haven Tuesday that he neither "accepts" nor "regrets" an endorsement from prominent right-wing Republican Newt Gingrich, a show of support that deviates from the campaign theme that the three-term incumbent remains a "devoted Democrat" even as he runs against the party on the "Connecticut for Lieberman" line.

Gingrich, the former Congressman from Georgia who engineered conservative Republicans' House takeover in the 1994 elections and authored the "Contract with America," endorsed Lieberman's third-party bid. The endorsement came last week as Lieberman made an effort in public appearances to characterize himself as an opponent of the Republican White House's conservative agenda.

"I'm not going to accept or regret" Gingrich's backing, Lieberman said in comments to reporters as he left an upbeat union campaign rally on New Haven's Wall Street Tuesday. "Look, he doesn't vote here. I'm looking for the support of Democrats, Republicans, independents, in Connecticut."

"It wasn't my choice not to win the Connecticut primary," Lieberman continued. "A simple twist of fate has" led to his third-party candidacy. He said that candidacy "has allowed me to be what I've always been -- a Democrat who is anxious to work across party lines."