Lieberman, who shared the same jet with [Barack Obama] and other members of the Connecticut congressional delegation, missed the cocktail hour, when the chatter focused on Lieberman's challenge by Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont.

Lieberman was afforded a polite, though tepid, response as he introduced Obama. At least twice, he had to shush the crowd, once when he shared what had been a private connection to Obama: Lieberman told the crowd that Obama had chosen Lieberman as his mentor.

Obama later mocked Lieberman, most likely inadvertently, when he described [Bush] as measuring progress in Iraq in terms of the increasing number of cellphones in use there, but ignoring the number of flag-draped coffins arriving at Andrews Air Force Base.