Friends in Senate will help Lieberman campaign

WASHINGTON — Embattled Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman is getting a little help from his Senate friends as he tries to fend off an anti-Iraq war challenger in an intraparty fight.

Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware, Barbara Boxer of California and Ken Salazar of Colorado plan to campaign in Connecticut for Lieberman between now and the Aug. 8 primary. Their goal is to reassure the party faithful of the three-term senator's loyalty to Democratic causes, including women's issues, labor and the environment.

"It will be a reminder to voters of the work he's done on progressive issues," Marion Steinfels, Lieberman's spokeswoman, said Wednesday. "Some of his colleagues wanted to come here and campaign for him on issues that matter to him and them."

The rush of support from his Senate colleagues comes two days after Lieberman, the party's 2000 vice-presidential nominee, said he would start collecting signatures for an independent campaign in case he loses the primary.

Lieberman's staunch support for the Iraq war has helped fuel a challenge from Ned Lamont, a wealthy Greenwich, Conn., businessman and political newcomer.

Lamont backers scoffed at the notion that senators campaigning in Connecticut for Lieberman would have an impact.

"I'm not sure, in a year where people are fed up with Washington, having a bunch of Washington politicians travel the state for Joe Lieberman will help at all," said Tom Swan, Lamont's campaign manager. "It would only reinforce the idea that Joe is more about Washington than Connecticut."

Lieberman's move toward an independent bid put national party leaders in a bind. Many support Lieberman personally, but they also are eager to tap the anti-war sentiments of many liberals in hopes of recapturing Congress this fall.

Democrats fear Lieberman and Lamont could split the November vote and hand the Republicans a Senate seat in a three-way runoff. Party officials also did not anticipate having to devote scarce campaign resources to Lieberman in reliably Democratic Connecticut.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, have pledged support for Lieberman in the primary, but they refused to say which candidate they would back if Lieberman were to lose.

The Democratic National Committee said it would not take sides in the primary but would back the nominee in the fall.

Lamont has tapped $1.5 million of his personal fortune, which is estimated at between $90 million and $300 million, to help pay for his race. He said Wednesday he may put another $1 million into his race.