When Joe Lieberman talks about courage, people pay attention.
For good reason. There's probably been no greater act of political courage in recent years than the appearance of the Democrat-turned-Independent at the Republican convention in support of his friend John McCain. And it took guts to repeatedly refuse to vote with Democrats on an Iraq withdrawal timeline.
Lieberman has paid a price for his stands, and more paybacks could come in January from Democrats in the Senate. But this month, his focus is on Nov. 4, backing McCain in media appearances and at rallies in battleground states.
In a recent interview after stops at synagogues in Wynnewood and Philadelphia, the Connecticut senator talked about the race and the courage of John McCain.
Right now, he concedes, "it's advantage Obama, but it ain't over."
He said the meltdown of the economy changed the political landscape - but not in a way he expected.
"As the economy goes down, Barack Obama's standing goes up," Lieberman said. "That doesn't make sense.
"In a national crisis like the one we're having now, the country would be a lot better off with someone who has been tested in moments of crisis and passed the test every time, someone with a record of accomplishment working across party lines. . . ."
Though Lieberman said Obama might be able to provide good leadership in the future, now is not the time.
"He can't match John McCain's record of leading in a crisis and bringing people together," Lieberman said.
Years of serving with McCain have convinced Lieberman of his friend's readiness to be president.
"I've been in the same room with him when he's pulled people together to protect the 60-vote requirement for Supreme Court nominations, or to do something about campaign-finance reform or immigration.
"I've been there when he's met with foreign leaders, and I've seen the strength and skill that he brings to those meetings."
Obama, on the other hand, has been known nationally for only 31/2 years, Lieberman said, and most of that time he has been running for president. That's partly why questions - "not accusations, but questions" - about Obama's associations with the likes of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. and Bill Ayers, the terrorist-turned-college-professor, are legitimate, Lieberman said.
"Today, when in public life, anyone you associate with, anything that is said, you will be asked about. . . . He has to answer about them and not be defensive, just as John McCain has had to answer for associations he's had."
The real tests of leadership, though, are standing up in moments of crisis and speaking out about potential crises. McCain has done exactly that on the two biggest challenges of our time.
In May 2006, McCain urged tougher oversight and regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A letter to Senate leadership that McCain co-signed said, in part, "If effective regulatory reform legislation . . . is not enacted this year, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole."
The plea was ignored, and many politicians continued to accept contributions from Fannie and Freddie, including Obama. Some Democrats not only dismissed the concerns, but actually declared them attacks on minority homeownership.
Lieberman has his own example of McCain's standing up: the surge strategy in Iraq.
"No matter what you think about whether we should have gone into Iraq, once in, we had a tough choice and an important choice," Lieberman said.
"Senator Obama chose to support a series of amendments that would have ordered retreat, that would have left Iraq to al-Qaeda and Iran. Senator McCain and others held firm. They recommended and fought for - and the president adopted - a new strategy."
The current level of security would have been impossible if Obama's calls for a timeline had been heeded, Lieberman said.
"I've had conversations with people in Iraq, not just in the government, but tribal sheikhs and leaders in Anbar. If we had set a timeline, they would not have stood up against al-Qaeda and the terrorists. . . .
"So the presence of U.S. forces there, without a timeline, one, created the conditions of greater security and, two, a group of Sunni Muslims, from a large Sunni province, given the choice between Americans and other Sunni Muslims, chose America. They concluded that Americans were actually on their side."
Lieberman's conclusion:
"The different approach between Senators McCain and Obama could not be more stark," Lieberman said. "McCain was not just right, but courageous. He went against public opinion in the middle of a presidential campaign."
Now, as the end of that campaign nears, Lieberman added, "I just hope he doesn't have to wait until the next world to be rewarded for his courage."