Obama Backs Lieberman Against the Wall

Posted by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report at 4:21 AM on June 5, 2008.

Joe Lieberman, fully embracing his role as a Republican attack dog, took the lead in a GOP conference call this morning to attack Barack Obama’s Middle East policy. On the call, organized by far-right Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Lieberman argued, weakly, that Obama holds the U.S. responsible for Iran’s strength in the region.

“Senator Obama argued today that American foreign policy in recent years has essentially sort of strengthened Iran,” Lieberman said, adding, “If Israel is in danger today, it’s not because of American foreign policy, which has been strongly supportive of Israel in every way. It’s not because of what we’ve done in Iraq, it’s because Iran is a fanatical terrorist expansionist state.”

Obama, apparently, didn’t care for Lieberman’s comments, so much so that the Democratic presidential nominee confronted Lieberman directly on the Senate floor this afternoon. Subscription-only Roll Call reported:

[D]uring a Senate vote Wednesday, Obama dragged Lieberman by the hand to a far corner of the Senate chamber and engaged in what appeared to reporters in the gallery as an intense, three-minute conversation.

While it was unclear what the two were discussing, the body language suggested that Obama was trying to convince Lieberman of something and his stance appeared slightly intimidating.

Using forceful, but not angry, hand gestures, Obama literally backed up Lieberman against the wall, leaned in very close at times, and appeared to be trying to dominate the conversation, as the two talked over each other in a few instances.

Now, as far as I know, this wasn’t an entirely forceful confrontation, and the two reportedly “patted each other on the back” after their discussion. Reporters apparently peered over the edge of the press gallery wall to watch the disagreement, prompting Obama to smile and point up at the reporters. (I mention this because I don’t want to suggest Obama was about to smack Lieberman around.)

But it’s also the kind of anecdote that reminds us that Barack Obama is not afraid to push back against those attacking him.

I don’t imagine he changed Lieberman’s mind, and I seriously doubt Lieberman will think twice before attacking Obama again.

But I’m encouraged anyway. Lieberman needs to be backed up against a wall more often. Besides, as Roll Call reported, “Obama loyalists were quick to express their frustration with Lieberman’s decision and warned that if he continues to take a lead role in attacking Obama it could complicate his professional relationship with the Caucus.”

As for the substance of Lieberman’s criticism, Sam Stein reported:

The crux of Lieberman’s argument, however, was that Obama was putting the blame for Iran’s rise in the Middle East on America’s doorstep, pushing the argument that the Iraq war had strengthened Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s standing in the region and left Israel left secure.

“If Israel is in danger today it is not because of us foreign policy, which has been strongly supportive of Israel in every way,” he said. “It is not because of what we have done in Iraq. It is because Iran is a fanatical, terrorist, expansionist state and has a leader and a leadership that constantly threatens to extinguish the state of Israel.”

The remarks fit into a traditional GOP rallying cry, that the Democrats have a blame-America-first mentality. But there are outstanding factors that could muddle Lieberman’s message. For starters, most objective metrics indicate that Iran has, in fact, been strengthened by America’s involvement in Iraq. The Persian nation, after all, has increasingly meddled in Iraqi affairs.

But also, McCain, despite tough rhetoric on Iran, has several advisers with deep connections to the country; perhaps the most embarrassing of which is Charlie Black, the campaign’s chief strategist. Before leaving his perch as a D.C. lobbyist, Black represented a Chinese oil company that did business with the Iranian government. He and his firm also represented Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi exile who helped churn up support for the war in the United States and has subsequently been accused of selling U.S. secrets to Iran.

I wonder if Obama brought any of this up.

Tagged as: israel, lieberman, obama