Senator Lieberman endorses Senator McCain for president. In other news, the sun rises in the east.

Sen. John McCain, trying to keep momentum in this state’s critical Republican primary race, brought in something unusual on Monday — an endorsement from the other party’s former vice presidential nominee.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Democrat Al Gore’s running mate in 2000, said he had intended 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, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, 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 morning to Hillsborough’s American Legion hall, 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?”

Lieberman said McCain’s approach to Iraq and his credentials on national security are the main reasons he is supporting a Republican for president.

But both men said the election seems increasingly about the economy and domestic issues rather than Iraq. On those issues, Lieberman acknowledged he does not always see eye-to-eye with his 2008 pick. But, said Lieberman, McCain is always straightforward about where he stands.

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.

They are both right about the partisanship gridlock in DC, but the relevance of this endorsement in 2007 is negligible. Don’t we all see McCain in a three way tie for third in New Hampshire? Quite possibly, although in 2000, McCain won New Hampshire. That was about it as South Carolina proved McCain was toast. Which is where he is about now, right next to bagles and waffles. Which reminds me that Iowa and New Hampshire are about as relevant as indicators of presidential candidate prognosticators these days as wooden toys in a wii world.

Senate Democrats will likely avoid comment on this, where the liberal fringe will rattle the pitchforks and sabers. But if anything, McCain is the only Republican presidential candidate that may actually know a thing or two about geography and foreign policy. It would be nice for once that actual smartness over empty promises ruled the process of picking the best candidates for office.

source: Courant Lieberman Endorses McCain, By JENNIFER LOVEN, December 17, 2007