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Why lovers of Israel should vote
for McCain
(according to Joe Lieberman)
In an interview with Haaretz, Lieberman says he believes McCain
is the candidate most likely to thwart a nuclear Iran.
By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent
30/01/08 "Haaretz." -- -- FORT LAUDERDALE - Joe Lieberman was a
busy man this week, and the week before, and the one before
that. Almost as busy as a candidate for the 2008 election. So
busy that he did not even have the time to go back to Washington
for the State of the Union address. So busy that he was trying
to squeeze some interviews while driving from one event to
another. One of them was with Haaretz.
He has a horse in this race. Not
the horse Barack Obama was talking about
yesterday.
Lieberman's is a Republican horse: Senator John McCain. Last
week he was working for him in the Jewish community of Florida
that will go to the polls today. This week it is mostly the
Hispanic community. When I spoke to him he was getting ready for
the event that prevented him from getting back to DC in time for
President Bush's last annual address, an event with mostly
Venezuelan-Americans
So why McCain?
We started with Iran. McCain, Lieberman says, is the candidate
to be trusted on this crucial matter. Every candidate states
that he does not want Iran to become a nuclear power. The
question is, Lieberman says, "how far will they go." And off
course, McCain, like everybody else, wants to solve the problem
peacefully, by diplomatic means, and sanctions when necessary.
But "there's no question in my mind," Lieberman says, that
McCain is a leader with "very strong views" when it comes to a
nuclear Iran.
He does not believe that talks with Iran will make the
difference. Lieberman calls this approach "just naive". You
can't expect that "words" will do the trick. The Iranians will
react to "strength." And in McCain Lieberman found the
"principled leader in time of war" that will not be swayed by
public opinion. "He is fearless" when it comes to "political
popularity," Lieberman reminds the voters, and "does not change
with the wind." He was fighting for the surge in Iraq when it
was unpopular, which "speaks volumes to me."
And Lieberman also says that McCain understands how significant
the establishment of the state of Israel was. He is an avid
reader of history and also has "a sense of history." He is
familiar with the story of the country. He will not do anything
that will "compromise Israel's security." Lieberman has real
confidence in McCain, a "total comfort level" because "I know
this man."
Yes, Lieberman is familiar with this quote people are talking
about, as if McCain said that he will be sending James Baker of
Brent Scowcroft to be the Middle East envoy for his
administration, even thought Israel would probably not like it.
But he says he only heard about it recently, and is also
somewhat skeptical about it. I know McCain appreciates
Scowcroft, Lieberman says. But the two disagree on so many
things that are fundamental to McCain's way of thinking, like
the war in Iraq, that he finds it strange.
Lieberman is also skeptical about the efforts of the Bush
administration to achieve something on the Israeli-Palestinian
front in the last year of the administration. "The real
obstacle," he says, is that Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and
that Abbas can not deliver. Not that he doesn't want to. He just
can't. Peace will be "very hard to achieve" this year, he says.
But he also suggests cutting the president some slack. After
all, Bush was one of the friendliest presidents ever when it
comes to Israel, maybe even "the strongest" supporter of all
presidents.
So Lieberman listens, and hears some things that are "worrisome"
from the administration. But he does not yet feel alarmed. Last
week, when the president came back from the trip to the Middle
East, Lieberman met him with other legislators and gathered that
all the president wants to do it to have some kind of
"understanding," not an agreement that will be implemented. He
thinks that Bush is well aware that even this task might not be
practical.
On the eve of the Florida primaries Lieberman is not delusional
about the Jewish vote. Most Jews here are Democrats and can't
vote for McCain even if they want to, but "he will get mote than
his fair share". The one candidate that might endanger such
achievement is Rudy Giuliani, and it seem as if Lieberman has
the hope that when the race moves on Giuliani will no longer be
there to take votes from McCain.
The Jewish vote will be "a different story" when, not if,
McCain's the nominee, in the general election, Lieberman
believes. To him, McCain represents a "strong combination" that
will have an appeal to many Jewish voters.
Evidently, one such Jewish voter he already has.
© Copyright 2008 Haaretz. All rights reserved
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