Campaign '08

Lieberman Throws Support Behind McCain

HILLSBOROUGH, N.H. (CBS News) ― Sen. John McCain, trying to keep momentum in a critical Republican primary race here, brought in something unusual on Monday - an endorsement from the other party.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said he was intending to wait until after the primaries to make a choice for the 2008 presidential race. But McCain asked for his support and no Democrat did.

Lieberman, the Democrats' 2000 vice presidential nominee, said he chose his longtime Senate colleague because he has the best shot of breaking partisan gridlock in Washington. Both men also support the war in Iraq.

"On all the issues, you're never going to do anything about them unless you have a leader who can break through the partisan gridlock," Lieberman said. "The status quo in Washington is not working."

Independents can vote in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary on Jan. 8 and they are the people McCain is targeting, much as he did in winning the state's Republican primary in 2000 over George W. Bush.

Traveling with Lieberman Monday, McCain said the Connecticut senator is his answer to the people he hears in every town hall meeting who ask, "Why can't you all work together?"

For McCain, behind in the polls here but gaining, the endorsement carries the risk of alienating conservatives who have been critical of his support for immigration and campaign finance reforms.

"If I get some criticism for aligning myself with a good friend I have worked with for many years, I will be more than happy to accept that criticism," McCain said.

For Lieberman, it marks another turn away from his party.

"Political party is important, but it's not more important than what's good for the country and it's not more important than friendship," Lieberman said.

Word of the endorsement follows several other high-profile announcements for McCain, including weekend endorsements by The Des Moines Register and The Boston Globe.

McCain has largely ceded the Iowa caucuses to front-runners Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, but the Register said, "McCain is most ready to lead America in a complex and dangerous world and to rebuild trust at home and abroad by inspiring confidence in his leadership."

The Globe, while not based in New Hampshire, circulates in New Hampshire's vote-rich southern tier. McCain has focused his campaign on the Granite State, hoping to repeat his 2000 victory over George W. Bush.

"The iconoclastic senator from Arizona has earned his reputation for straight talk by actually leveling with voters, even at significant political expense," the Globe wrote.

McCain has also picked up endorsements from The New Hampshire Union Leader, the state's largest newspaper, and The Portsmouth Herald.

"U.S. Sen. John McCain will tell you the truth, even if it costs him the election," the Herald wrote.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)