Lieberman Fights for Political Life

Aug. 6, 2006 &#151 -- In the 2000 presidential election, 531 votes were all that stopped Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., from becoming the nation's first Jewish vice president. Six years later, Lieberman is fighting for his political life against Ned Lamont, an upstart opponent in Connecticut's surprisingly tight Democratic primary.

In an exclusive appearance on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Lieberman blasted Lamont, a Connecticut businessman with limited political experience, as a "one trick pony," calling him an "unproductive polarizer" for a campaign that has largely centered on the senator's support for the Iraq war.

"My opponent is essentially saying to [voters]: Use this primary to vote against George Bush. But I'm not George Bush," Lieberman told Stephanopoulos, ABC News' chief Washington correspondent.

"I think that those that got us into this mess should be held accountable," said Lamont, who also appeared exclusively on "This Week" in a companion interview.

Lamont acknowledged that the Iraq war has taken center stage in this unusual intraparty fight that threatens to oust Lieberman, an 18-year incumbent, from a relatively secure seat. But he added the election was about much than just Lieberman's support for the president's policies in Iraq.

"He's got 18 years of experience, but he's using it on the wrong side of the big issues of the day," Lamont told ABC News. "Eighteen years of experience, and he got our troops stuck in the middle of a bloody civil war in Iraq. Eighteen years of experience, and he's done nothing for universal health care. Eighteen years of experience, and he's trying to have it both ways on affirmative action, Social Security."

Lieberman is no stranger to close races. In 1988, Lieberman won his first Senate seat in a narrow contest against three-term Republican incumbent Lowell Weicker by wooing Republicans disillusioned with Weicker's voting record and unifying Democrats.

In 2000, then-Vice President Al Gore chose Lieberman as his running mate largely because of his reputation as a bipartisan broker. Lieberman, known as a foreign affairs hawk with a record of support for environmental causes dear to Gore, was the first Democrat to openly chastise President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal.