NEW YORK—Yesterday’s “Meet the Press” became “Meet Former Democratic candidates for Vice-President and President” when Senator Joe Lieberman (CT) and Senator John Kerry (MA) faced off over whether McCain or Obama would be best fit for President.
Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic candidate for Vice-President, and Kerry, the 2004 Democratic candidate for President, endorsed McCain and Obama, respectively, in a Battle Royale of contenders who couldn’t quite get into the White House themselves.
Though an “independent Democrat,” Lieberman backed the Republican John McCain, despite conceding that Obama “is a gifted, eloquent, young man.” McCain, on the other hand, is “ready to lead” and “ready to be president…with the economy in a crisis and [with America] facing dangerous enemies abroad.”
Kerry, who was in Obama’s position four years ago, blasted McCain and his campaign in the midst of negative ads against the junior Senator from Illinois, calling the tactic “character assassination” and pointed out that “even John McCain’s partner…in the Senate, Russ Feingold, said yesterday, ‘They’ve decided they can’t win on the issues, so now they’re going to try to destroy his character.’”
He points to McCain campaign ads mocking Obama’s “celebrity status,” comparing him to Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and even Moses.
McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis, in response to Obama’s statement that he will be attacked because he “doesn’t look like all the presidents on the dollar bills,” said that Obama “played the race card” and condemned his words as “divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.”
Lieberman laughed off the Hilton/Spears comments, saying, “we all ought to relax a little bit” and that it was just a “bit of humor.” When asked whether the Hilton/Spears ad was demeaning, Lieberman replied, “No…I think it’s cute.”
“I think it raises a question,” Lieberman added on a more serious note. “We’re not deciding who’s our favorite celebrity [or] who we are fans of. We’re doing something very serious at a time when our economy is hurting a lot of people, energy prices are sky-high, and we still are in a war against the Islamic terrorists who attacked us on 9/11.”
But Kerry disagreed, saying it was McCain’s scheme to “scare the American people.”
“They can’t win on health care. They can’t win on the economy. Eighty-five percent of the people in the nation know the country’s moving in the wrong direction. They can’t win--in fact…is [McCain] ready to lead?” reiterated Kerry. “Barack Obama has proven that he has the right judgment.”
Most national polls still list Obama as ahead of McCain nationally in head-to-head surveys. A July 27-29 CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll gives Obama a 7-point lead (51%-44%), whereas more recent polls (Gallup and Rasmussen, both conducted July 31–August 2) show a statistical dead heat with Obama up one point (45%-44% for Gallup, 47%-46% for Rasmussen). However, a July 25-27 USA Today/Gallup poll lists McCain as the frontrunner, ahead of Obama by 4 points 49%-45%.
