Jack Kemp will hit the campaign trail with a fellow former vice presidential candidate from another party: Sen. Joe Lieberman.
Lieberman said Tuesday that Kemp, a Republican former congressman and U.S. housing secretary, telephoned to offer support to his independent campaign, which the three-term senator began after losing the Democratic primary to Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont.
No date for the visit has been set. Kemp said he also plans a fundraiser for Lieberman in Connecticut.
“We’ve worked together for years on some good projects that got done,” Lieberman told reporters while campaigning in New London.
Kemp said he admired Lieberman’s views on civil rights, defense, programs for public housing and economic development in depressed urban areas. “I’m kind of a Lieberman Republican, if you want to say that,” he said.
Kemp was former Sen. Bob Dole’s running mate in 1996.
Lieberman, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000, has seen most Democratic leaders flock to Lamont since the Aug. 8 primary. Many saw the race as a referendum on the Iraq war. Lamont harshly criticized Lieberman’s support of the war and said the senator was too close to Republicans and President Bush.
A Quinnipiac University poll last week showed Lieberman with a 12-point lead over Lamont among likely voters, while an American Research Group poll showed Lieberman with only a slight advantage. Republican Alan Schlesinger received single-digit support in both polls.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press
