Lieberman pushes to primary

Though his strategy of focusing on New Hampshire hasn't translated into high poll numbers, the Democratic candidate from Connecticut told voters to think beyond the Jan. 27 primary to the general election.

Lieberman said he's convinced the race remains wide open.

"People are taking a second look," he said while walking along Main Street in Hanover. "People know who I am. They can predict what kind of president I will be. Most importantly, I know who I am and what I stand for."

Lieberman said that New Hampshire voters are interested in what happens in Iowa, but that they are so independent, they wouldn't necessarily vote for the winner.

"Maybe they will vote just to make sure the pundits, pollsters, and politicians are wrong," he said.

"Some pundits are counting me out, but George Bush isn't," Lieberman said. "In a conversation he had in Australia, Bush told the prime minister there that he feared only one candidate -- and that candidate is me."

Lieberman was referring to a report in The Australian, that country's national daily newspaper, that President Bush told Prime Minister John Howard in a private meeting in October that he believed Lieberman would be his most formidable opponent.

Lieberman said Bush won't be able to call him weak on defense or label him a tax-and-spend liberal.

"And just let them try to drive a wedge on values. They're stuck there, too. I am never afraid to talk about right and wrong, to help parents raise decent kids, and even to talk about faith," he said. "The Bush White House cannot divide and conquer -- not this time."