Lieberman Vows to Save ESL Jobs

In this
exclusive photo by Dave Winer, Sen. Lieberman warily eyes the Dowbrigade,
as your intrepid reporter, pen in one hand and beer in the other, grills
him on the issues
of the day.

In an exclusive interview at a bar in Manchester, New Hampshire, where
he has now taken an apartment, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut discussed
his move, his reasons for declining to campaign in Iowa, and his position
on the devastation currently affecting educational programs geared to
foreign students. The Dowbrigade caught up to the candidate after a long
day on the campaign trail, on
the 4th
day
of Chanukah,
in
an establishment
called
P.J. O’Toole’s.

Sen. Lieberman was astonishingly easy to approach. Basically, all the
Dowbrigade had to do was sit down on the unoccupied bar stool to his
left. The candidate immediately offered his hand and introduced himself.
He asked where we were from and what we did for a living. He seemed genuinely
interested, and was remarkably easy to talk to.

When he heard that the Dowbrigade is about to lose his job at Boston
University due to the difficulties of foreign university students in
obtaining visas to study in the US post 9/11, Lieberman said, "I will
definitely do something about that after I am elected. The immigration
authority
in this country is in a shambles."

When asked why he chose to eschew the Iowa caucuses and instead move
into New Hampshire full-time, he mentioned he is not spending all his
time in NH. Iowa, he said, was shaping up as a showdown between Dean
and Gephart, and he preferred to stay out of it.  He mentioned that
9 other states, including NH, would be decided within a few weeks at
the end of January and the beginning of February, and he preferred to
invest his efforts there.

Sen. Lieberman was noncommittal when asked how long he planned to maintain
his residence after the January 27th primary. "We’ll see," he said, with
a twinkle in his eye.