CAMERON: Senator Lieberman, you've certainly not called the positions that your rivals have taken on the war and on the funding unpatriotic, but you have called it inconsistent. You've suggested that it's weak and that it sends a duplicitous message to the world.
You've heard a variety of opinions expressed by your rivals. Why are they wrong?
JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: I'm surprised to hear this variety again. You know, this is a test of leadership at a difficult moment in American history. I've said this before, I'll say it again. Howard Dean, Carol, Dennis, Al, we have a different point of view on whether we should have gone into Iraq to get rid of Saddam Hussein, but they've been clear and they've been consistent, and I respect them for that.
We're trying to replace a president who doesn't level with the American people, who's not consistent. And we're not going to do it unless we also level.
So I don't know how John Kerry and John Edwards can say that they supported the war but then oppose the funding of the troops who went to fight the war that the resolution that they supported authorized.
I've been over Wes Clark's record and statements on this so many times. I heard him tonight. He took six different positions on whether going to war was the right idea.
(LAUGHTER)
It took him four days to decide whether voting on the $87 billion was a good idea.
The American people want leadership that they can trust to do what's right for our country and have the courage to stick with that, whether it's politically easy or not.
IFILL: In the interest of getting everybody in on this debate, I'm going to go back to Paul Cameron for another question.
LIEBERMAN: Can I respond, please?
IFILL: Senator, you can respond in your next round.
LIEBERMAN: I'll respond real quickly. I'm sorry.
IFILL: OK. Very quickly.
LIEBERMAN: OK. I want to say obviously I respect John Kerry's military service to our country, but that's not what this is about. This is about the votes that he's cast that I believe are inconsistent.
In fact, what do we look back and wonder about our time in Vietnam? We didn't support our troops. If everyone had voted the way John Kerry did, the money wouldn't have been there to support our troops.
KERRY: That…
LIEBERMAN: Tough decision. $87 billion is a lot of money. $87 billion is a lot of money. It should have been less if George Bush had brought in our allies and had a plan.
But, in the end, if you want to be president, you got to make a choice. I didn't duck it. I didn't play politics. I voted to support our troops.
IFILL: OK. It's the moderator's privelege. We could go back and forth on this all night, but we really have a lot of ground to cover, so we would like to go back to the next question.
PERKINS: Senator Lieberman, in light of that, there are many who believe that peace in the world is impossible without some resolution of the Palestinian issue.
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How far are you willing to go? How much are you willing to do to win the trust of the Palestinian people?
LIEBERMAN: Well, Huel, as you know, I was here in Detroit just a week ago to speak to the Arab-American Institute to stress what unites us. As I said, the hyphen between Arab-American and other ethnic Americans is in some places in the world a divider. Here it's a uniter. It should remind us we are all Americans and we are all children of the same god and children of the same father, Abraham. We are literally brothers and sisters. And it's in that spirit that I intend to approach as president the conflict in the Middle East.
It's a tragedy, people dying every day. It requires the kind of persistence of the president of the United States that Dick Gephardt has just spoken of, and that President Bush has not shown in now almost three years in office.
The solution here – the only acceptable solution is quite clear: a two-state solution; peaceful, free Israel standing next to peaceful, free, independent Palestine. And that will come…
(APPLAUSE)
… that will come only if the United States remains involved. And first step must be an end to terrorism.
Would I negotiate with Hamas and other terrorist groups? Not while they're terrorists. But, you know, as a matter of faith and policy, I believe that people are capable of change.
If they renounce terrorism – as Yitzhak Rabin, the late prime minister of Israel said, you don't negotiate with your friends to achieve peace, you negotiate with those who have been your enemies.
Yes, I would do anything within reason and security to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
In response to Sharpton:
LIEBERMAN: Yes, very quickly.
I visited the Middle East last December. I visited the Palestinians. I met with the soon-to-be, but unfortunately not-too- long-to-be, Prime Minister Abu Mazen, Mahmoud Abbas. I met with members of the cabinet.
I did not meet with Yasser Arafat. Do you know why? President Bill Clinton gave him an offer of Palestinian statehood, along with former Prime Minister Barak, that came that close to being enacted, but he turned against it and then facilitated violence.
I said before I would not hesitate as president to have the United States mediate between the Israelis and any Palestinian leader who really had declared their own war against terrorism.
Unfortunately, Arafat has not done that. In fact, he stopped Prime Minister Abbas and now Prime Minister Qureia from doing what they wanted to do, which was to take on the terrorists.
(APPLAUSE)
As long as he's there, there's not going to be a real chance for peace in the Middle East.
PERKINS: Senator Lieberman, a famous talk-show host admits his addiction to prescription drugs.
(LAUGHTER)
He goes off for treatment. There are addicts who have also admitted that they have a problem. They're behind bars right now. There seems to be a disparity…
(APPLAUSE)
… real or perceived, a disparity. But it seems that if you're rich and famous, you go to rehab, but if you're poor and unknown, you go to jail.
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How will you change the perceived mistreatment, or real mistreatment, of people in the medical and legal fields?
JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: This is a very important question, and it's time for a change on this. Let's first acknowledge that there is a real problem here. This is not just rhetoric. Just this past week, I read in the newspapers of a study done in the state of Maryland that showed something like 90 percent of the people in Maryland jails for drug-related charges are African-American. Now, that's a miscarriage of justice. There's just no rationale as to why that number would be so much larger than the African-American population in the state of Maryland.
I believe in a system of justice. I believe, as I presume and I know everyone here does, that people have to be held accountable for crimes. But the system of justice must be fair.
Too many people are in jail today for nonviolent drug offenses. They are costing our country, their states, their families, their neighborhoods an enormous amount. We need to commit ourselves to turn this around and invest in rehabilitation, invest in some of the causes of crime like education, job training.
The fact is, when I am president, I am going to fix this problem. I am going to not have John Ashcroft at the Justice Department. I'm going to have an attorney general who will work to see that there is justice that is fair.
I say one final word, and it says it all. Reverend Jackson was in Connecticut some years ago, and he talked about this problem. And he said, you know, it costs more to keep a young African-American in jail than to send that same young man through Yale. That's what we ought to be doing.
IFILL: Next question is for Senator Lieberman. The question, you've heard the term bandied about on this stage tonight, “Bush lite.” That's the rap on you, that you are way too moderate, way too middle-of-the-road for especially Democratic primary voters.
How do you sell yourself or convince people that you can be the standard bearer, that you can be angry enough to take on George W. Bush?
JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Well, first off, let me say that nobody's used the reference “Bush lite” to me since Wes Clark became a Democrat and got into this presidential race.
(LAUGHTER)
So I welcome you in that regard. I've been a lifelong Democrat. I'm a proud Democrat.
You'd have a hard time finding two Americans who are angrier about George Bush's presidency than Al Gore and me. Believe me.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
And look at my record: strong on civil rights throughout my career, strong on environmental protection. I believe that America will not be the country we want it to be unless the government is involved in making our schools better, ending the two tiers of education today, providing health insurance, working to stand behind manufacturers, growing the middle class.
I was attorney general of my state and fought the special interests on behalf of the people.
I got to tell you, Gwen, I get angry when people say to me somehow that I'm not an authentic Democrat because I'm strong on defense, strong on values and willing to talk about the role of faith in American life. I'm not going to yield that ground to the Republicans.
I'm Joe Lieberman. I'm an independent-minded Democrat. And as president, I'm going to restore prosperity and security to the American people. That's who I am.
We have now reached the point in the debate where each of the candidates will have one minute to sum up the statements of the evening, starting with Senator Kerry.
LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Gwen. Thanks to you, Carl, Huel, and the Congressional Black Caucus and the city of Detroit, for a great debate tonight.
(APPLAUSE)
Gwen, campaigns are about ideas for the future. They're about our vision for how to make our country better. I presented a lot of new ideas in this campaign to give America a fresh start. You can find them on my Web site at joe2004.com.
I want to talk about one quickly here at the end, and that's tax reform and tax fairness.
Under George Bush, corporations and the people at the top are paying a lot less. The middle class is being squeezed – higher health-care costs, education costs, job insecurity. People – and median incomes are down.
The middle class needs a break. Without a strong middle class, we're never going to have a strong America.
That's what my tax fairness plan does. It will cut taxes on 98 percent of taxpayers. That's right, 98 percent of the taxpayers will get a cut in taxes under my plan.
Will I ask corporations to pay their fair share to make that happen? Yes. Will I close loopholes? Absolutely. Will I ask people who can afford it to pay more? You bet I will. That's the way to be fair, to bring down the deficit, to protect Social Security and implement my plan to create 10 million new jobs in the first four years.
That's the way to lead with integrity and fairness, which George Bush hasn't done and which I will do as president of the United States.
Thank you very much.