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Lieberman disagrees with Gore <br><br>By Dave Boyer <br>THE WASHINGTON TIMES<br><br><br>Al Gore's former running mate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman,<br>sharply disagreed yesterday with Mr. Gore's assertion that<br>President Bush was pandering to conservative Republicans<br>with his push for military action against Iraq. <br> "I have never said that, and I<br>don't believe it," the Connecticut<br>Democrat said in unusually blunt<br>disagreement with Mr. Gore's<br>comments. "I'm grateful President<br>Bush wants to do this [in Iraq],<br>and I don't question his motives."<br> The former vice president told<br>an audience in San Francisco on<br>Monday that the Bush<br>administration had pressed the<br>case against Iraq "in a manner<br>calculated to please the portion of its base that occupies the<br>far right, at the expense of the solidarity among all of us as<br>Americans, and solidarity between our country and our<br>allies."<br> Mr. Gore also said that by moving toward war with Iraq,<br>the United States has "squandered" the international good will<br>arising from the September 11 terrorist attacks.<br> His comments came as lawmakers were negotiating with<br>the White House on a resolution to authorize military force<br>against Iraq. Mr. Bush has requested the action before<br>Congress adjourns in October to stop Iraqi leader Saddam<br>Hussein from developing weapons of mass destruction.<br> Many Democratic lawmakers distanced themselves from<br>Mr. Gore's remarks, though Senate Majority Leader Tom<br>Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, supported much of what<br>Mr. Gore had said.<br> "A lot of people in this country have many of the same<br>concerns that the vice president spoke about," Mr. Daschle<br>said. "But I think at the end of the day, there's an interest on<br>the part of most Democratic senators to express support for<br>the effort [in Iraq] and to give the president the benefit of the<br>doubt."<br> Asked about Mr. Gore's accusation of political pandering,<br>Mr. Daschle asserted that Vice President Richard B. Cheney<br>was guilty of such behavior Monday during a campaign stop<br>in Kansas for Adam Taff, a Republican House candidate.<br> "I must say, I was very chagrined that the vice president<br>would go to a congressional district yesterday and make the<br>assertion that they ought to vote for this particular Republican<br>candidate because he was a war supporter, that he was<br>bringing more support to the president than his opponent,"<br>Mr. Daschle said.<br> "If that doesn't politicize this war, I don't know what<br>does," Mr. Daschle said.<br> Mr. Gore's remarks also reflect a change in his own<br>stance. In a February speech before the Council on Foreign<br>Relations in New York, he said that the war on terrorism<br>would require a "final reckoning" with Saddam. He also said:<br>"As far as I'm concerned, there really is something to be said<br>for occasionally putting diplomacy aside and laying one's<br>cards on the table. There is value in calling evil by its name."<br> Mr. Bush declined to criticize Mr. Gore directly.<br> "There's a lot of Democrats in Washington, D.C., who<br>understand that Saddam Hussein is a true threat and that we<br>must hold him to account," Mr. Bush told reporters. "And I<br>believe you'll see, as we work to get a strong resolution out<br>of the Congress, that a lot of Democrats are willing to take<br>the lead when it comes to keeping the peace."<br> White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "The<br>president's going to continue to work with the great many<br>Democrats in the Congress who see it differently from the<br>former vice president and who will work with this White<br>House."<br> Mr. Gore's remarks prompted strong criticism from some<br>Democrats running for re-election.<br> Sen. Robert G. Torricelli, New Jersey Democrat, who<br>was trailing his Republican opponent badly in the polls, called<br>Mr. Gore's speech "not relevant."<br> "I don't think it has any effect on Democrats' thinking at<br>all," Mr. Torricelli said.<br> Sen. John Edwards, North Carolina Democrat, asked<br>about Mr. Gore's charge that Mr. Bush was pandering to<br>conservatives, said, "I want to stay focused on the substance<br>of it."<br> Republicans rose to the president's defense.<br> "The former vice president of the United States is entitled<br>to his views. I just don't agree with it," said Sen. John<br>McCain, Arizona Republican. Asked whether Mr. Bush was<br>pushing action against Iraq to appease his political base, Mr.<br>McCain replied, "I don't agree with that at all."<br> But some Democrats believe that the White House is<br>exploiting a vote on Iraq for political gain.<br> "We've got a president downtown who's hellbent to lead<br>us into war, at least up until the election," said Senate<br>Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert C. Byrd, West<br>ginia Democrat.
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