To whom it may concern
Reader Ronald Knott writes from Michigan regarding a phone blast apparently urging Democrats to vote in the Republican primary for John McCain:
I thought you would be interested in the exact text of a message left on my home voicemail late this afternoon.Mr. Knott reports the time of the message as 4:23 p.m. and quotes the message as follows (emphasis added):
Hi. This Senator Joe Lieberman. I’m calling for John McCain.I have written the McCain campaign to inquire about the accuracy of this report. I cannot vouch for it as of yet. It is consistent with this CBS report of Senator Lieberman campaigning today for Senator McCain in Michigan:As you may remember I was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2000. But this year I’m supporting Republican John McCain for President because he is the person best qualified to lead our country forward. He’s a straight talker who will always do what’s right for our country regardless of partisan politics and he’s the only candidate prepared to be commander-in-chief from day one.
There isn’t a competitive Democratic primary in Michigan this year and all registered voters are able to participate in a Republican primary. So I’m calling today to urge you to vote in the Republican primary on January 15 for Senator John McCain. He’ll break through the partisanship and make our government in Washington work for all the people again.
[I]n Ypsilanti, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., joined McCain on the stump and urged independents to vote for his friend.If Mr. Knott's report is accurate, is there anyone in the Republican Party beside John McCain who thinks this is kosher?“This is a tough and close fight here in Michigan here today. But Republicans, and I want to say specifically independents and yes, Democrats…...I urge them to come out today and stand for a man who is a great American patriot."
UPDATE: Patrick Hynes responds on behalf of the McCain campaign:
Thanks for reaching out to me. Sen. Lieberman indeed recorded a GOTV phone call, but it mentioned nothing about Democrats voting in the Republican primary and the call was not targeted to Democrats. Sen. Lieberman's message was of a series of calls from numerous McCain campaign surrogates, which also included Sen. Sam Brownback.I've asked Patrick to comment on the accuracy of the text of the message reported by Mr. Knott.
UPDATE: More here.
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