Lieberman Cries Foul Over Iowa Debate
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -
Sen. Joe Lieberman wants to debate after all. And he's crying foul
at the Democratic National Committee for excluding him from a
presidential faceoff Monday.
The Connecticut senator, who is not competing in Iowa's caucuses,
had rejected an invitation to attend the Des Moines debate sponsored
by the DNC. Eight other candidates had agreed to attend.
Later, Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina and John Kerry of
Massachusetts said they could not be here because the Senate is
debating a GOP-backed Medicare bill they both oppose. The DNC agreed
to allow them to participate by satellite from a Washington studio.
Two television screens will show Edwards and Kerry on stage,
alongside six rivals who will be there in person.
Lieberman, who also opposes the Medicare bill, asked to
participate by satellite as well. The DNC consulted with the other
campaigns, at least two of which said he should not be allowed to
take part.
Lieberman's spokesman, Jano Cabrera, said, "We think this is
unfair."
"The rules of the debate were changed and two candidates were
allowed to participate remotely. Given these rule changes, we
obviously were interested in debating. We're sure any technological
problems can be worked out," Cabrera said.
DNC spokesman Jim Mulhall said: "When we heard the request of the
Lieberman campaign, we made every effort to figure it out. But based
on technological concerns and based on issues of fairness, we could
not work it out. We canvassed and discussed the issues involved with
all of the campaigns."
Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark's campaign initially rejected an
invitation to attend an upcoming debate in New Hampshire. When the
campaign reversed course, the DNC accepted Clark's request to attend
the debate in person - apparently without canvassing the other
campaigns.
"We never received such a phone call," Cabrera
said. 2003-11-24 09:06:39
GMT
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