On the December 17 edition of CNN International's Your World Today, while reporting on Sen. Joe Lieberman's (I-CT) recent endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (AZ), CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider misidentified Lieberman as a Democrat, stating, “And, of course, Joe Lieberman is a Democrat who has voted very often with Republicans, especially on the Iraq war, so there's a kind of commonality between the two of them.” In fact, Lieberman lost the 2006 Democratic Senate primary, but subsequently won re-election as an independent. As Media Matters for America has repeatedly noted, on January 12, Congressional Quarterly reported that “Lieberman has asked to be called an Independent Democrat,” adding that, “if the compound modifier that the senator prefers was not going to take hold, then Lieberman's second choice is to be described as an Independent,” rather than being described as a “Democrat.”

While Schneider misidentified Lieberman as a Democrat, he did mention that Lieberman “did not get elected in Connecticut as a Democrat,” “rel[ying] on Republican votes to get elected.”

From the December 17 edition of CNN International's Your World Today:

COLLEEN McEDWARDS (anchor): And Joe Lieberman -- what's he up to here? I mean, I thought he was just going to kind of take a pass on this.

SCHNEIDER: Well, a lot of people did. This is a big surprise. He's obviously very close to John McCain. I believe they went -- they visited Iraq together. McCain is a Democrat -- is a Republican who has -- has, in the past, had appeal to Democrats. And, of course, Joe Lieberman is a Democrat who has voted very often with Republicans, especially on the Iraq war, so there's a kind of commonality between the two of them. The reason it raises eyebrows is Joe Lieberman was on the ticket with Al Gore in 2000.

McEDWARDS: Exactly.

SCHNEIDER: My God!

McEDWARDS: Exactly.

SCHNEIDER: The man who the Democrats nominated for vice president just eight years ago, seven years ago, is now endorsing a Republican? What's up with that? Well, it probably means more to Republicans than it does to Democrats because a lot of Democrats have given up on Joe Lieberman, who did not get elected in Connecticut as a Democrat; he relied on Republican votes to get elected.

But for Republicans, they may try to convince themselves, “Hey, John McCain can once again reach out to Democratic voters,” but I don't know how many Democrats Joe Lieberman brings with him these days.

MCEDWARDS: Yeah, yeah. Exactly.