Lieberman announces he will retire in 2012

STAMFORD, Conn. – Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut said Wednesday that he will retire next year, ending a career in which he became his partys vice presidential nominee but six years later ran as an independent after losing the Democratic primary.
He announced his decision before a crowd of several hundred supporters at a Stamford hotel, but downplayed any speculation that he was backing down from a tough 2012 re-election bid.
"I know that some people have said that if I ran for re-election, it would be a difficult campaign for me. So what else is new?" Lieberman said, adding that he has won difficult elections since the 1970s.
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In his prepared remarks, he invoked a Bible verse from Ecclesiastes in explaining his decision. "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under Heaven."
"At the end of this term, I will have served 24 years in the U.S. Senate and 40 years in elective office," he said. "For me, it is time for another season and another purpose under Heaven."
While Liebermans hawkish views on the military and the Iraq war rankled some Democrats, his support for gay rights and abortion rights won him the praise of many liberals.
Lieberman, 68, nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with running mate Al Gore in 2000 and mounted an unsuccessful presidential bid in 2004.
He was defeated the last time he ran for the Democratic Senate nomination in Connecticut, in 2006, but won a new term running as an independent in a three-way race.
Top Democrats such as Obama and then-Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd who had supported Lieberman in the 2006 primary instead backed Democratic nominee Ned Lamont in the fall general ...