(2006-07-06) — In another sign of lukewarm support from his own party for Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s reelection campaign, Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy today branded the Connecticut incumbent as “a J.F.K. conservative, a relic of another era.”

“I’m not sure we need someone in the Senate who’s still mired in the provincial, hawkish John F. Kennedy ideas about U.S. military power,” said Sen. Kennedy. “But if he wins the primary, I’ll show my party loyalty by refraining from campaigning against him openly.”

Meanwhile, Democrat National Committee Chairperson Howard Dean said the national party, in cooperation with MoveOn.org, would fund a last-minute advertising blitz on local TV stations in which Sen. LiebermanÂ’s face morphs into that of President Kennedy.

“Let every candidate know,” Mr. Dean said, “whether he wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of the war on the war on terror.”