More headlines: Joseph Lieberman on Principles & Values
(Following are older quotations. Click here for main quotations.)
Favorite song: Frank Sinatra, "My Way."
This is for the Gen X crowd, and it's very personal. What's your favorite song?- MOSELEY BRAUN: What's my favorite song? "You Gotta Be."
- SHARPTON: My favorite song is James Brown's song on the Republican Party, "Talking Loud, Saying Nothing."
- KERRY: Bruce Springsteen, "No Surrender."
- DEAN: One you've never heard of, Wycliffe Jean, "Jaspora" [Creole for "Diaspora"]
- LIEBERMAN: Well, you know, like a good politician, I'm going to take two.
Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow, remember that one? And the classic Frank Sinatra, "My Way." We're going to do it our way in 2004.
- KUCINICH: John Lennon, "Imagine," as in imagine a new America.
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GEPHARDT: Bruce Springsteen, "Born In The USA."
- GRAHAM: Jimmy Buffet, "Changes In Attitude, Changes In Latitudes." We're going to change some attitudes and latitudes.
Source: Congressional Black Caucus Institute debate
Sep 9, 2003
Bush lacks experience & isn’t ready; Gore has plenty & is
Q: You’ve been hitting Bush on experience. Cheney said today. “If there’s one of the two tickets lacking in experience, it seems to me it’s those guys. They’ve spent virtually their entire careers in elective office, getting paid by the government, never
having met a payroll, living inside the Beltway.” How do you respond? A: Public service is a profession. It doesn’t mean that the only way you come into it is by being in public service. But president of the US is the most important, complicated,
demanding job in the world. And when you look at the relative experience of these two candidates and what their record is, I just think that Al Gore is so much more ready to be a great president. He’s had national and international experience that is
wide. He knows world leaders. He’s worked to balance the budget and keep the economy growing. I think, on balance, Governor Bush is not ready, with all respect, at this point, to be the kind of president that America needs and Al Gore is.
Source: Larry King Live, reported on CNN.com
Nov 1, 2000
Will not drop out of Connecticut Senate race
A day before the deadline to pull out of the Connecticut Senate race, Joseph Lieberman said emphatically Thursday that he would not drop his dual candidacies. “I promised no October
surprises, and there will be none. I really think it would, in many ways, be an act of bad faith if I pulled out at this point.”
Source: AP Story, NY Times
Oct 26, 2000
I requested report, and I said “stop it” to Hollywood
CHENEY: I liked the old Joe Lieberman better. Joe established an outstanding record in his work on violence in the media. There is the view that the depth of conviction isn’t quite as strong as it was. On one hand, he criticizes the activities of the
industry, and at the same time, he participates in fund-raising events with some of the people responsible. LIEBERMAN: Al Gore and I have felt for a long time that we cannot let America’s parents stand alone in this competition that they feel they’re
in with Hollywood to raise their own kids. John McCain and I requested the report that proved conclusively that the entertainment industry is marketing adult-rated products to our children. When that report came out, Al Gore and I said to the
industry, “Stop it. And if you don’t stop it in six months, we’re going to ask the FTC to take action against you.” Al Gore and I agree on most everything. We disagree on some things, and I have not changed a single position since Al Gore nominated me.
Source: (X-ref Cheney) Vice-Presidential debate
Oct 5, 2000
The promise of America promises opportunity for all
The great question this year, is what will we dream for our country and how will we make it come true? We who gather here tonight believe that it’s not just the size of our national feast that is important but the number of people we can fit around the
table. There must be room for everybody. As every faith teaches us and as presidents from Lincoln to Roosevelt to Reagan to Clinton have reminded us we must as Americans, try to see our nation not just through our own eyes but through the eyes of others.
Source: Speech to the Democrat Convention
Aug 16, 2000
Continue to criticize Hollywood, but no Silver Sewer awards
Joseph Lieberman said he would not back down from his criticism of Hollywood. However, Lieberman said that if he and Gore are elected, he would not continue issuing “Silver Sewer” awards to people and companies that he and conservative William Bennett
deem “cultural polluters.” “There are certain things that a vice president doesn’t do that a senator can do,” Lieberman told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He said he would continue pushing for less violence and sex in public entertainment.
Source: AP article in NY Times
Aug 13, 2000
Accepts V.P. request; “walks the same path” as Gore
“I believe deeply in Al Gore,” Lieberman told reporters. “I’ve known him for 15 years. I have not met a more honorable, intelligent, hard-working progressive person in public life in America than Al Gore. So it’s not just an
honor to be asked to run for vice president, but it’s a special honor to be asked to run for vice president with a man who I think is ready to be one of America’s great presidents.” Lieberman said he thought Gore wanted to run with someone
with whom he shared “values and policies... And you know, I’m sure people in these few days will point out a couple of the areas where I may have taken different positions but, honestly if you look at our overall record support
for environmental protection, support of the Gulf War, strong support for the economic policies that have brought us such extraordinary growth in the last decade, on and on and on, Al Gore and I have pretty much walked the same path.”
Source: MSNBC.com
Aug 7, 2000
Rebuked Clinton for Monica; but against impeachment
Lieberman was dismayed by Clinton’s lying about the Lewinsky affair. He said, “Such behavior is wrong and unacceptable and should be followed by some measure of public rebuke and accountablity.” But he was persuaded not to call for censure, and he
stopped well short of backing impeachment. The speech clearly changed the tenor of the public dialogue. Clinton accepted this rebuke, and it may have helped him, by showing other Democrats how to criticize his conduct while still not calling for removal.
Source: Almanac of American Politics 2000 (Barone & Ujifusa)
Jan 1, 2000
Clinton’s behavior was sordid, but not impeachabale
Lieberman said he was deeply troubled by the evidence presented by the House Managers, and as a result “came closer to voting to convict the President than I thought I would.” “But after much reflection and review of the extensive evidence before us,
of the meaning of the term ‘high Crimes and Misdemeanors,’ and, most importantly, of the best interests of the nation, I have concluded that the facts do not meet the high standard the Founders established for conviction and removal,” Lieberman said.
“No matter how deeply disappointed I am that our President, who has worked so successfully to lift up the lives of so many people, so lowered himself and his office, I conclude that his wrongdoing in this sordid saga does not justify making him the
first President to be ousted from office in our history.”
“Impeachment is not an instrument of protest, or of prosecution, but one of protection, of our country, its people, and our democratic ideals,” Lieberman said.
Source: Press Release, “Opposing Articles of Impeachment”
Feb 11, 1999
Nominated for V.P. because of faith, not despite faith
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Lieberman’s rise, however, is that he was chosen not despite his faith, but because of it. It was Lieberman’s no-apologies assertion of moral values that attracted Gore to him. Lieberman displayed those
values Tuesday in a speech that cited God almost a dozen times in language more devout than any similarly prominent Christian political figure-and certainly any Democrat--had used in recent memory.
Source: Geraldine Baum, LA Times
Aug 9, 2000
Page last updated: 7/3/2008