HARTFORD, Conn. - A wry grin on his face, Sen. Joe Lieberman stepped into the brilliant fall sunshine after a Baptist church service and declared his plans for the campaign's final days. "Actually, I'm planning to go into hibernation," he joked to reporters. "I'm going to be in prayer for the next nine days."Lieberman has plenty to smile about these days. Less than a week before Tuesday's elections, Lieberman, 64, appears to be on-track for a fourth term as statewide polls show him with a double-digit lead.
Just three months ago, the Connecticut lawmaker's 18-year Senate career was on the rocks. Anti-war challenger Ned Lamont had flattened him in the Aug. 8 Democratic primary, a bitter race that was widely seen as a referendum on Iraq - and a blunt rejection of Lieberman's pro-war views. It was a dramatic fall from grace for a man who had been his party's vice presidential nominee just six years ago and who came within a few hundred votes of the White House. Lieberman sometimes cites a bittersweet Bob Dylan tune, "Simple Twist of Fate," in recalling the loss.
A defiant Lieberman quickly shifted gears and launched an independent bid to hang onto his seat, bucking top Democrats who urged him to bow out for the sake of party loyalty. Some even branded him a traitor. He's bounced back with a hard-hitting campaign that has yanked the spotlight off the issue that cost him the primary - his support for President Bush's Iraq invasion. "I will believe that, if this works out and I win, it is because people wanted me to be their senator for a lot more reasons than Iraq," Lieberman said, noting that voters often approach him to say while they disagree with him on the war, they still support him.
He has struck a chord among Republicans and the state's vast pool of independents, calling himself an "independent-minded Democrat" willing to resist the party line.