Apr. 11, Feature - One of Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain's closest allies is a Democrat, well a former Democrat who lost his primary, so was forced to become an Independent to win re-election. Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has not only endorsed McCain for President, but has become his surrogate and has also been following McCain on the campaign trail. Melinda Tuhus looks at how Connecticut voters feel about Lieberman's outspoken role, just one year after they elected him back into office.

"I'm an independent-minded Democrat."

That was Joe Lieberman on Election Day, 2006, when he became an independent after losing the Democratic primary to anti-war candidate and political newcomer Ned Lamont. He went on:

"I believe we've made our case to the voters of Connecticut that I'm the one who can better fix what's wrong with DC because what's wrong with DC is too much partisanship and not enough getting together in the center to get things done for the people. That's what I've always been about and that's what I will be about, for the next six years, if I'm fortunate enough to be re-elected."

Fast forward to 2008. Democrats were outraged when a group affiliated with a board on which Lieberman sits ran an ad recently attacking 15 freshmen members of Congress, including two Democrats from Connecticut, Chris Murphy and Joe Courtney.

Both had voted against granting the telecommunications industry retroactive immunity from prosecution for facilitating domestic spying by the Bush administration.

The ad was sponsored by Defense of Democracies, with both Democrats and Republicans serving on the parent board. Several prominent Democrats resigned when the attack ad came out. Lieberman did not.

Paul Bass, a New Haven reporter who's followed Lieberman's career for the past two decades, says that's nothing new.

"Since he was elected to the Senate in 1988, Joe Lieberman has been the most important figure in the Senate to help the right wing advance its social agenda. He saw when he got there, even though he'd been elected as a Democrat, where the axis of power was moving. He ran to the right of the Republican candidate, Lowell Weicker, to get elected."

In 2006 Lieberman soft-pedaled his support for the war, since a majority of Connecticut voters opposed it. Enough voters valued his 18 years' seniority in the Senate that they sent him back. Bass continues:

"When he got elected this past time, he said he was freed to be non-partisan; what it really meant was he was freed to be elected from Connecticut and just be an out of the closet right-wing enabler. He said in that campaign and his supporters said it was important to elect him stand up to George Bush and help a Democrat win the White House this time. What happened is he became the most important voice in favor of the war, along with John McCain, to keep it going and add money, and to attack the patriotism if people questioned it."

The highly respected Day of New London newspaper, which endorsed Lieberman in 2006, broke with him in a recent editorial. The editorial was especially critical of the senator's appearance with presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain in every photo op as the two went globe-trotting.

Lieberman's office did not return calls seeking comment.

Meanwhile, as people across the country protested five years of the Iraq War on March 19, Connecticut activists focused their ire on Lieberman, as they chanted outside his Hartford office:

"Hey, hey, ho, ho, Lieberman's war has got to go…."

Lieberman's support for the war and his hard line against Iran line up perfectly with McCain's views, which makes them perfect partners on the campaign trail.

For Election Unspun, I'm Melinda Tuhus in New Haven.