Lieberman critical of administration as he begins Presidential run

Four democrats who hope to win their party’s 2004 nomination for President are campaigning in Iowa today. Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, Al Gore’s running mate in 2000, began his day with a bowl of oatmeal in front of him and reporters surrounding him at a diner in Des Moines. Lieberman, who has just hired an Iowa campaign manager, says he’s beginning his Iowa effort a bit late, but he says he intends to be here a lot to carry the message that Americans deserve and need better leadership in Washington. Liberman says the current administration is not getting the job done. Lieberman says two years ago, “we were promised a better America” and Bush has failed to deliver. Lieberman touts his work on establishing the Department of Homeland Security, and is unique among the democratic field in his support for military action against Saddam Hussein. Lieberman says he’s thought since 1991 that Saddam is a “ticking time bomb” who needs to be removed, and says he felt the former President Bush made a mistake by not removing him when Saddam’s military was in disarray. Lieberman says he’s not going to change his position because he happens to be a democrat and the republican President has come to the same conclusion. Lieberman will join North Carolina Senator John Edwards, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich to speak this afternoon at the Iowa Federal of Labor convention in Altoona.