Lieberman vows to move forward

Sen. Joe
Lieberman (I-Conn.) pledged to move forward and work with President-elect
Barack Obama after campaigning for his Republican rival John McCain in the race
for the White House this year.

Lieberman,
appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” credited Obama with keeping his spot in
the Democratic caucus.

{mosads}“This began with
the president-elect,” said Lieberman. “The president-elect is looking forward,
he knows the challenges he has ahead of [him].”

Lieberman said
Obama wanted to keep the Democratic Party united as he faces the continuing
downward spiral of the economy. The senator praised the Illinois Democrat for
his approach to politics after winning the White House. 

“Barack Obama has
set the exactly right tone since election night,” Lieberman said.

After the
election, the Connecticut senator faced retribution from Democrats because of
his vocal support of Sen. McCain (Ariz.).

Many pushed to
punish Lieberman, seeking to remove him from his prominent chairmanship of the
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In turn, Lieberman
threatened to leave the Democratic caucus and add another vote to the
Republican minority in the Senate.

But at a caucus
meeting last week, Democrats voted to allow Lieberman to keep his chairmanship,
instead stripping him of his seat on the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee. 
Asked if he regretted making some of his statements on the campaign trail,
Lieberman stated: “I wish I didn’t say some of the things I have said.”

Lieberman also argued
that he thought he “spoke respectfully of Barack Obama” during his speech at
the Republican National Convention. He added that he disagreed with comments by
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the GOP vice presidential candidate, that Obama was “palling
around” with terrorists and the mocking of community organizers by former New
York City Rudy Giuliani (R).

Lieberman said
the failing economy requires both parties to come together and avoid divisive
partisanship in order to find solutions for the American public. He urged Obama
and President Bush to work together to come up with a stimulus package in the
short term.

“The public is
sick of partisanship. They really want us to put our country first,” he said,
echoing McCain’s campaign slogan.