President plants a kiss on Lieberman's cheek

Washington analyzes smooch
President plants a kiss on Lieberman’s cheek
Joseph Straw, Register Washington Bureau
02/04/2005

President Bush and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman embrace after the State of the Union address Wednesday night on Capitol Hill. AP

WASHINGTON — It was a very public display of affection by President Bush Wednesday night on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, not to mention live national television.

For those of you who watched the State of the Union address, your memory serves correctly. First lady Laura Bush was upstairs in the gallery.

The recipient of Bush’s hearty smooch on the cheek was U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn.

What a difference a year makes. Back then, Lieberman wanted Bush’s job. And in seeking it, Lieberman said as many unkind things as did the John Kerrys and Howard Deans of the world, albeit receiving far less attention.

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But since Lieberman bowed out of the race, he and Bush have shepherded historic intelligence reform into law, and more recently Bush reportedly twice asked Lieberman to take a post in his new Cabinet.

Lieberman declined — of course politely — we’re told.

As Bush stepped from the rostrum after his speech, he shook lawmakers’ hands, then suddenly grabbed Lieberman’s head in both hands — Michael Corleone-style — and planted one on his cheek.

Lieberman’s staff responded to the presidential public display of affection with tongue in cheek.

"We think it was some kind of Yale thing, and believe the senator would have returned the kiss if Sikorsky had gotten the presidential helicopter contract," said spokeswoman Casey Aden-Wansbury, referring to the Pentagon’s choice last week of Lockheed Martin over the Stratford-based Sikorsky.

White House spokesman Ken Lisaius welcomed a different inference.

"I believe it was a sign of appreciation from the president. Senator Lieberman has been understanding of the importance of the war on terror, and perhaps in addition to that it means that people should be optimistic that there’s a sense of working together on matters important to the American people," Lisaius said.

The Australian press reported in 2003 that Bush confided to Prime Minister John Howard that he viewed the conservative Lieberman as his strongest rival for the presidency.

Asked whether Wednesday’s gesture was a "thank you" for Lieberman’s exit from the race, Lisaius said, "I stand by my comment."

U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who also made a failed bid for his party’s presidential nomination in 2000 and refers affectionately to Lieberman as "my fellow loser," was asked Thursday by syndicated radio host Don Imus if he’d seen the kiss.

McCain said he did not, but did notice Lieberman repeatedly standing "like the Lone Ranger" to applaud Bush with the Republicans on the other side of the aisle.

"I felt like saying, ‘Hey, Joe, come on, sit over here next to me,’" McCain said.

Washington pundit Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, said he’s not surprised Lieberman and Bush have hit it off.

"Joe Lieberman has a reputation for being the kind of classy guy George Bush would really like, and it doesn’t hurt Joe Lieberman that he’s a Democrat who’s been in agreement with the president on the need to do what we did in Iraq, and he’s been supportive of the president on foreign policy and national security," Rothenberg said.

"And it doesn’t hurt that they’re both men of faith."

"Don’t expect to see him kissing Chuck Schumer, or Rosa DeLauro, for that matter," Rothenberg said.

While a far more partisan Democrat than Lieberman, fellow New Havener U.S. Rep.

DeLauro, D-3, doesn’t feel betrayed by the senator’s bipartisan embrace. She, like Lieberman’s staff, saw it as a lobbying opportunity.

"I have full confidence that Joe used that opportunity to whisper sweet nothings in President Bush’s ear about the Marine One helicopter ... principally that it should be 100 percent made in America," DeLauro said.

U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2, asked Bush, somewhat rhetorically, "What about the rest of us?" Simmons said he shares the president’s respect for Lieberman.

Joseph Straw can be reached at (202) 737-5654 or jstraw@nhregister.com .

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John Ervin
Date: Fri Feb 4, 2005 12:26 am
Subject: Did y'all catch Bush bussing Lieberman, the Kiss of Deadly Thanks?

Did y'all catch how Lieberman voted today? Forget that the two Nelsons, Pryor, Landrieu, and of all stunners, the newly elected Salazar, all voted for Gonzales, how shocking that a man who legitimately won office four years ago, and it would have put him a heartbeat from the Presidency, has now just a few years later fallen this low?

I wrote him to convey the breadth of my wrath, and hope you will do the same. I thought Kerry and Feinstein had frivolously betrayed us, but what could possibly compensate Lieberman for such an act?

His vote was the one that gave Alberto "Torquemada" Gonzales the requisite 60th vote to preempt a proposed filibuster by the Democrats, led by Kennedy. And did you catch Bush, in triumphal exit from his speechifying buffooneries, grabbing a shocked Lieberman and giving him the Mafia Don hard core kiss on the cheek? The Daily Show replayed it, and even I was weirded out.

That's some honor...................Paxxx: John E

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The State of the Union, and other notes from television
The Commentary, Canada - Feb 3, 2005
... Was it just me, or do you wonder too what the deal was with the hug and kiss President Bush gave Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT), as he made his way out of the ...
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