Republican politicians for Lieberman

The strangeness of the Lamont-Lieberman race in Connecticut is self-evident, but the White House and other Republican politicians and organizations (like the NSRC) have added a layer by publicly supporting Lieberman instead of the candidate who won the Republican primary. How unusual is it for a sitting president to show support for a candidate from the other party instead of endorsing his own? Not at all, according to Tony Snow-- who, typically, then went on to prove the opposite. But hey, the man spins. It's his job.

"Actually, there have been races in the past where candidates didn't meet the expectations of the local parties, and presidents have stayed out, Democrats and Republicans, in the past."

Reporters demanded examples. The next day, Snow produced a list. "In 1970, President Nixon took a neutral position in the US Senate race between [Vietnam war critic] Sen. Charles E. Goodell (R-N.Y.) and challengers Rep. Richard Ottinger (D-N.Y.) and James L. Buckley ." In 1980, GOP officials did not support a Republican in Michigan, the list said.

Snow gave other examples that didn't fit his own criteria, meaning that this has happened on two occasions in the last few decades, "one involving an alleged sex offender and the other a Klansman."