How Joe Lieberman stabbed a friend in the back

Senator Joe Lieberman has cultivated this image of being a "nice guy." And a lot of Americans fell for it. But he's not a nice guy at all. He's kind of a backstabber, in the worst Washington way. Just ask Barack Obama. You know how Lieberman is endorsing John McCain for president, and he's even gone so far as to publicly criticize Obama? Well did you know that when Joe Lieberman was in the campaign for his life just two years ago, he begged Obama to help him, and Obama did. (Here's video to prove it.)

Lieberman is a backstabber. He betrays his friends. He's what's wrong with Washington. From TPM Election Central:

[A] top official on Joe Lieberman's 2006 Senate reelection campaign tells me that Lieberman's staff practically begged Barack Obama to come in and endorse him at a critical moment -- requests that Obama agreed to, helping Lieberman minimize the damage from challenger Ned Lamont's recent entry into the contest.

This back-story is particularly relevant right now in light of Lieberman's harsh assaults on Obama's national security credentials.

The top Lieberman official, who was directly involved in securing Obama's help, tells me that the campaign was desperate for Obama to come to Connecticut in March of 2006, soon after Lamont entered the race.

"We needed him to strongly validate us as a candidate that liberal Democrats should not desert," the staffer tells me. "We went to the Obama operation with a very urgent plea for him to come out for us."
...

In response to the Lieberman camp's pleas for help, Obama subsequently endorsed him at a dinner of Connecticut Democrats later that month.

"I am absolutely certain Connecticut is going to have the good sense to send Joe Lieberman back to the U.S. Senate so he can continue to serve on our behalf," Obama said at the time.

"It was a favor as huge as we could have gotten -- it was like a drowning man getting thrown a life preserver," the Lieberman official continued. "Just when Ned was trying to establish himself as a credible alternative on the war, Barack Obama came in and said, `Hey, I disagree with him on the war, but you should send him back to the Senate.'"

Joe Lieberman isn't a nice guy. He's a bitter old Washington politician who begged a friend for help, got it, then turned around two years later and stabbed that friend in the back. Joe Lieberman isn't crossing party lines to show how he puts principle above party. He's crossing party lines because today it's the move that pays him the most benefit. That doesn't make him principled, it makes him a whore.