Opinion: B. Clinton comments on J. Lieberman and J. McCain

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Bill Clinton and Joe Lieberman have run in the same circles for almost four decades.

As a student at Yale Law School, Clinton campaigned for Lieberman’s 1970 run for a state Senate seat in Connecticut. During the 1980s, as governor of Arkansas, Clinton worked hard to promote the Democratic Leadership Council and its effort to push the party toward a more centrist agenda. Lieberman, as one of Connecticut’s U.S. senators, filled that role during much of the 1990s.

Clinton, then, was a logical person to ask about Lieberman’s decision to endorse Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential race.

Clinton, according to The Times’ Peter Nicholas reports, responded that he wasn’t surprised.

‘First of all, they’re friends,’’ he said in Des Moines today. ‘And secondly, they both agree that the most important thing that has happened in the last seven years is Iraq and it’s more important than Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden and 9/11. And more important than getting the leadership of AL-Qaeda after 9/11. I disagree. I think most of our Democrats disagree. But both of them seem to really believe that.’’

Clinton made his comment as he appeared at a supermarket this morning ...

with his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and one of her celebrity backers, Magic Johnson. The ex-president, Nicholas reports, made every effort not to overshadow his wife. But, not surprisingly, the media throng that surrounded him at the event exceeded that for his wife.

He took a few questions about their personal life.

Hillary Clinton recently mentioned that the couple had some ‘human being time’’ together. He was asked about that.

‘Sometimes we’re just sleeping, we’re so tired,’’ he said. But on at least one occasion, he added, ‘We got to get up and talk about things.’

He also said that for Christmas, ‘I’ll go home for a half-day and make sure we have it organized.’’

Shortly thereafter, Hillary Clinton took a helicopter flight to a campaign appearance in Ottumwa, Iowa; her husband and Johnson flew on a plane to rallies in other parts of the state.

--Don Frederick