Kerry calls McCain ad 'character assassination,' while Lieberman says Obama response is 'exploitation'

Unique Hindsight In Meet the Press DebateSenators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Kerry (D) debate negative campaigning on Meet the Press: NBC

U.S. Senators John Kerry (D-Boston) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) had a spirited discussion of both issues and politics earlier today on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' Though both are in the same Senate caucus today, they've taken different sides in this campaign, with Lieberman an early supporter of Republican nominee John McCain and Kerry backing Democratic nominee Barack Obama since January.

And with both men having the unique experience of running on a national ticket -- Lieberman as the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee and Kerry as the 2004 presidential nominee -- they each offered their thoughts on the sharp negative turn the race has taken in the last week.

Dredging up John McCain's pledge in April that, "This will be a respectful campaign," moderator Tom Brokaw pressed Lieberman, "Do you think running a campaign ad in which you feature Britney Spears and Paris Hilton with Barack Obama is respectful?"

"I do," the Connecticut senator said, referring to a new McCain commercial flashing pictures of Spears and Hilton while calling Obama "the biggest celebrity" in the world. "It's a bit of humor. It's a way to draw people into the ad."

He joked about another McCain web-ad that compares Obama to Moses, but said that the ultimate point of the commercial, titled "Celebrity," is that, "We're not deciding who's our favorite celebrity -- who we are fans of."

The ad generated another sign of the presidential race's turn towards a harsher tone, when McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, directly accused Sen. Obama of "playing the race card" in his response.

"Since [the Republicans] don't have any new ideas," Obama said Wednesday, "the only strategy they've got in this election is to try to scare you about me. They're going to try to say that I'm a risky guy. They're going to try to say, "Well, you know, he's got a funny name, and he doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills and the five dollar bills."

McCain's camp called that statement, which Obama repeated throughout the day, "divisive, negative, shameful and wrong," but Kerry rejected that premise without delay and said that Obama was fighting back against "character assassination."

"What [Obama] was saying is they're trying to scare you," he said. "They're trying to scare the American people. And, believe me, I'm an expert on how they do that." Kerry feels the aim of this ad is "to insinuate that his celebrity is somehow all he has."

"They're trying to say to America, 'Somehow, he's not like you. He's not like us.'"

Yet Lieberman took a vastly different view of Obama's statement, calling it "a personal insult to John McCain."

"The McCain campaign is, to use Barack Obama's words, raising the question, 'Is he a risky guy?' But it has nothing to do with his name or his skin color. It has to do with his lack of experience and bad judgment, his unreadiness to be president."

He insisted that McCain "does not have a bigoted bone in his body," and implied that, unlike himself in 2000, Obama is exploiting the historic nature of his candidacy for political benefit.

"In 2000, Al Gore gave me the extraordinary honor of being the first Jewish-American to run for national office, and Al Gore said he had confidence in the American people that they would judge me based on my record, not on my religion," Lieberman said. "And I urge Barack Obama to have the same faith in the American people that they will judge him on his record, or lack of record, certainly not on his name or his race."

Brokaw brought Al Gore back into the picture when discussing the other hot topic of the week: offshore oil drilling. After having completely opposed it in recent months, Obama suggested on Friday that he'd be open to its limited practice in order to pass an energy plan through Congress.

Kerry said that he, like Gore, would continue to oppose the practice as "an absolutely fraudulent offering to America," but could understand why if Obama allowed it as a way to "break America's gridlock by honoring a bipartisan effort if that is the only way to move us towards alternative and renewable fuels."

But when Lieberman could get a word in ("My buddy here is filibustering this morning."), he said that McCain has showed superior judgment to Obama in recognizing that the current "crisis" requires more expansive options, such as widespread American oil drilling and innovation towards nuclear, wind, solar and other energies.

They also argued over the ongoing conflict in Iraq, with Lieberman suggesting that Obama might withdraw troops just to send them back in.

"When John McCain brings American troops home from Iraq, they're staying home," he said. " That's the man I want as president."

Despite their disagreements, Kerry said Lieberman would "absolutely" be welcome in the Democratic caucus come the 111th Congress in 2009, despite rumors that he will be kicked out for speaking in support of McCain's presidential candidacy at the Republican National Convention this September in Minnesota.

"I think [Lieberman's] going to want to be part of the stronger Democratic majority," he said. "I'm confident of that."