Former Democrat Joe Lieberman used his last speech on the U.S. Senate floor on Wednesday to call for bipartisanship and get in a last dig over the controversial result of the 2000 election, when he was the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
Lieberman, 70, announced in January 2011 that he would retire when his fourth term ends next month rather than seek re-election. He reflected on his career in remarks that lasted for about 20 minutes, recounting landmarks in his career and changes in society since he became a U.S. senator in January 1989.
"When I started here in the Senate, a blackberry was a fruit and tweeting was something only birds do," Lieberman said.
The four-term Connecticut senator was elected to the Senate as a Democrat in 1988. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, but withdrew from the race and John Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, became the party's nominee.