Lieberman Announces Retirement: 'I've Never Shied from a Good Fight and Never Will'

WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee who angered the party by backing Republican John McCain for president in 2008, announced that he will not run for a fifth term in 2012 Wednesday, saying that he always placed the interests of his constituents above those of any political party.

His office confirmed the decision in a statement circulated ahead of a news conference in Stamford.

"I know that some people have said that if I ran for reelection, it would be a difficult campaign for me," Lieberman said. "But what else is new? It probably would be. I have run many difficult campaigns before—from my first one in 1970 against the incumbent Democratic State Senate Majority Leader, to my 1988 campaign against the incumbent Republican U.S. Senator, to my campaign for re-election to the Senate in 2006 at the height of the controversy over the Iraq war.

"In all three of those elections most observers and pollsters thought I would not win. But with a lot of help from Independents, Democrats and Republicans—including many of you here today—in each case I did win.

:"I’ve never shied from a good fight and I never will," he continued.

"The reason I have decided not to run for re-election in 2012 is best expressed in the wise words from Ecclesiastes: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven.” At the end of this term, I will have served 24 years in the U.S. Senate and 40 years in elective office. By my count, I have run at least 15 full-fledged political campaigns in Connecticut."

Word of Lieberman's decision first broke Tuesday just hours after North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad also announced he would retire, leaving Senate Democrats with two seats to defend in a difficult political environment.

He nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with running mate Al Gore in 2000.

Democratic officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said Tuesday that the independent who usually votes with Democrats would not run for re-election in 2012.

Lieberman, 68, was defeated the last time he ran for the Democratic Senate nomination in Connecticut in 2006, but won a new term running as an independent in a three-way race.

Top Democrats like Sen. Christopher Dodd and President Barack Obama who had supported Lieberman in the 2006 primary instead backed Democratic nominee Ned Lamont in the fall general election. Lieberman was disappointed that some old friends weren't loyal to him.

In the years since, he aligned himself with Democrats in the Senate, who permitted him to chair a committee in return. Yet in 2008 he supported McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, who put the Connecticut lawmaker on his list of potential vice presidential running mates.

Lieberman's decision to speak at the 2008 GOP presidential nominating convention angered Democrats, and the speech he gave contrasting Obama to McCain angered them more.

"In the Senate, during the 3 1/2 years that Sen. Obama has been a member, he has not reached across party lines to accomplish anything significant, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party to get something done," Lieberman said at the time.

Connecticut Democrats also have criticized Lieberman's strong support of the Iraq war, although they were pleased when he led the recent Senate fight to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Lieberman's poll ratings in his home state had slipped in recent years, encouraging Democratic challengers and sparking speculation about the senator's retirement. Lieberman's colleague, Dodd, recently retired from the Senate.

Former Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said Tuesday she'll run in 2012 for Lieberman's seat.

Two Connecticut House Democrats, Chris Murphy and Joe Courtney, are also considering a run.

There had been speculation about whether Lieberman would run in 2012 as a Democrat, Republican or independent.

After the 2008 election and at Obama's urging, Senate Democrats decided not to punish Lieberman for supporting the GOP ticket. They voted to let him keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Obama was eager to strike a bipartisan tone for his presidency.