Lieberman: McCain can reunite our country

In my opinion, this endorsement could have a significant impact on the race. These two would make an awesome team.

(CNN) -- Sen. Joe Lieberman is crossing party lines and endorsing Republican Sen. John McCain for president.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, is endorsing Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, for president.

"Being a Republican is important. Being a Democrat is important. But you know what's more important than that? The interest and well-being of the United States of America," the Democrat-turned Independent said in announcing his decision Monday morning in New Hampshire.

"Let's put the United States first again, and John McCain is the man as president who will help us do that," he said.

Lieberman, the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 2000, said the next president needs to "break through the reflexive partisanship that is poisoning our politics today and stopping us from getting anything done in Washington."

In accepting Lieberman's backing, McCain said, "It is one of the great honors of my political career to have known him, to have worked with him and to have received his endorsement."

The Connecticut senator decided to endorse McCain because he considers him "the most capable to be commander in chief on day one of his administration, and the most capable of uniting the country so that we can prevail against Islamic extremism," a Lieberman aide said earlier.

The Lieberman aide insists the senator does not see this as a "commentary on or an endorsement of the Republican party, only the person."

The endorsement could help emphasize McCain's experience on national security issues, demonstrate his ability to work across party lines and perhaps help persuade Independent voters in New Hampshire to support his 2008 presidential bid, as many of them did during his first campaign in 2000.

McCain also picked up key endorsements this weekend from two of the most influential papers for voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, The Des Moines Register and The Boston Globe.

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