The Demublican

Now, as a lifelong Democrat, do you ever worry about the kind of judges a Republican--any Republican--might nominate during the next four to eight years, when liberal justices are likely to retire?
Sure I do. In fact, I was involved with McCain and others in the so-called Gang of 14, to try to preserve the 60-vote requirement on Supreme Court justice confirmations. But, look, your question raises a larger question: it's a fact that John McCain is more conservative on many issues than I am, so why am I supporting him? I'm supporting him because, one, I know him very well. This is not just somebody I am reading about. I have worked very closely with John on a host of issues, mainly national security … from stopping the genocide in the Balkans, to the Iraq War, to criticizing the post-Iraq War strategy, to creating the 9/11 Commission, to working on global warming, which is both an environmental and national-security issue in my opinion. I know his character and I trust his judgment. So even though I may disagree with him on some things, I have confidence that he will always do what he thinks is right and best for the country, and will always be looking for ways to work across party lines.

But the second, more specific reason is that the most important issue facing Americans is our security. And I think that John, not just because of his experience but because of his ability to make tough, principled decisions under pressure, is better prepared than any other candidate to be commander in chief in a time of war.

I'd like to ask you about a couple of issues on which you disagree with McCain. Abortion is an obvious one. He believes that Roe v. Wade must be overturned, and you don't. Are you concerned about that? Do you think he's willing to negotiate that or moderate his stance?
I don't know. But from his record I understand that he's been consistently pro-life and I've been consistently pro-choice. We just have a respectful disagreement on that. It's a very difficult issue. There's nobody I agree with on everything.

Let me ask about one more issue you disagree with him on, and that's gun control. He believes that gun control is "a proven failure in fighting crime," and you've been for gun control.
I believe that the Second Amendment says that gun ownership is in a specially protected category according to the Constitution. But that doesn't mean that it's not subject to regulation in the public interest, in just the way that even speech is subject to regulation. So I've supported a lot of gun-control measures. John and I actually worked together on one, which was to close the gun-show loophole [which allows unlicensed individuals to sell privately owned weapons at gun shows, avoiding criminal background checks. The proposed legislation died.]

So you think he might be willing to work with Democrats on measures to regulate gun use?
You'd have to ask him. But I don't disagree [with him] as much as he disagrees with some other Democrats, who are much more absolute about it than I am.

Going back to 2006, some of your critics are suggesting that you cannot forgive or forget what happened during that period, when the party and some of its leading lights backed Ned Lamont for your Senate seat. Some have used the word "vengeful." How do you address that?
Well, I'm not a vengeful person. And I don't feel vengeful about 2006. But I'll tell you, it was a year that had an effect on me. It's not that I learned lessons, it's that I was, in a very personal way, impacted by what I saw as the increasing partisanship of both parties, and the increasing tendency to want to apply litmus tests. So in this case, the litmus test was that I supported the Iraq War, because I obviously thought that in good conscience, consistent with my entire record on foreign and defense policy, it was the right thing to do. Like McCain, I criticized [Donald] Rumsfeld after Saddam was overthrown. But that apparently didn't matter … So I decided after the primary that the law of Connecticut gave me this right to run as an independent, and I simply felt too strongly that I could do a better job for the state than Mr. Lamont. In the end, of course, I was re-elected, and I have this very profound sense of gratitude to the people of Connecticut. So my overall feeling about 2006 is actually not one of vengeance, it's one of gratitude. And also that I'm going to do what I think is right, regardless of party. That's what led me to support John.