Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-Conn.) stepped to the Republican National Convention podium Tuesday evening to make the case for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to independents and Democrats who might cross party lines to vote Republican. “Being a Democrat or a Republican is important, but it is nowhere near as important as being an American,” said Lieberman, who was the Democratic party’s vice presidential nominee eight years ago. “I’m here to support John McCain because country matters more than party.” Lieberman said that what America needs is not more party unity but more national unity. He said his long friendship with McCain has shown him that the Arizona Senator is the better candidate to make that happen. Lieberman also notably encouraged voters to look past some of the attacks the Democratic Party has already lobbed at McCain in ads and in the media. “Don’t be fooled by some of these political statements and advertisements. God only made one John McCain and he is his own man,” Liberman said. “If John McCain is just another partisan Republican, than I’m Michael Moore’s favorite Democrat.” While Lieberman stayed mostly positive, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) used his speech Tuesday to push back strongly against Democrats and the media for attacks made against Republican vice presidential pick Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. He also took some potshots at Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). Deriding Obama as a candidate with more oratory skills than substance, Thompson said McCain’s respect in the world was earned through decades of hard work and independence and not by a “teleprompter speech designed to appeal to his critics abroad.”