Lieberman Praises McCain, Giuliani

WASHINGTON -- Independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman is praising Republican presidential candidates John McCain and Rudy Giuliani for not blindly following their political base on issues such as immigration ands abortion.

Lieberman, a former Democrat from Connecticut, said Sunday he is not ready to endorse a Republican for the 2008 race. But he made clear his disappointment with the Democratic candidates because of their positions against the war in Iraq.

"I'm not going to make my selection of who to support for president in '08 based on party," Lieberman said.

"I'm going to choose to support whichever of the candidates I think will be the best president of the United States to protect our security against the threat of Islamist terrorism and to rebuild America's economy, health care system, environment and education system," he said.

Lieberman praised in particular McCain's support for the recently failed immigration overhaul bill. It would have paved the way for legalization of millions of unlawful immigrants. The measure was supported by President Bush but bitterly opposed by conservatives.

He also pointed to Giuliani's refusal to oppose abortion rights.

In contrast, Lieberman said, Democratic candidates including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards oppose the Iraq war out of deference to "vested interest groups within the left."

"It's a very disappointing issue," Lieberman said. "The leading Democratic candidates for president are competing with each other to see which one can more quickly pull more of our troops out of Iraq, while our troops are there fighting and now succeeding with a lot on the line."

Lieberman spoke on ABC's "This Week."

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WASHINGTON (AP) _ Republican presidential candidate John McCain is making his sixth trip to Iraq this week.

The four-term Arizona senator, who supports the war and President Bush's troop increase strategy, plans to spend the July 4 holiday with U.S. troops. He has visited the war zone every three months over the past year.

McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has become closely linked to the war. He has planted himself firmly on the side of the president he hopes to succeed and the three in four Republicans who view the war as a worthy cause. Most people in the United States, however, call it a hopeless effort.

The senator last was in Iraq in April and was criticized for saying he was cautiously optimistic of success even as he toured Baghdad under heavy military guard. Iraqis accused him of painting too rosy a picture and U.S. critics argued he was out of step with reality.

In the months since, McCain has embraced the war, arguing that the U.S. must succeed and cannot afford to fail.