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Democratic
Sen. Joe Lieberman, now representing Connecticut for a third term,
was Vice President Al Gore's running mate in the contentious 2000
presidential election in which they won the popular vote but lost
the presidency. But the national prominence he gained in that
defeat, the experience he  gleaned
from participating in a presidential race and his centrist views
on religion and business have all helped to make Lieberman a top-tier
candidate for the 2004 Democratic nomination.
Born Feb.
24, 1942, in Stamford, Conn., Lieberman received his undergraduate
and law degrees from Yale. In 1970, he was elected to the Connecticut
State Senate, where he served for ten years, the last six as majority
leader. He was defeated in a 1980 run for Congress, but went on
to serve as Connecticut attorney general from 1982 to 1988.
In 1988, Lieberman
ran for Senate at the urging of several friends (including former
Yale schoolmate and current opponent Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts).
He faced moderate Republican Sen. Lowell Weicker Jr., a three-term
incumbent, in a race that proved to be close and contentious.
Lieberman presented himself as "the people's lawyer",
stressing family values and consumer issues. He won the election
by roughly 10,000 votes in a come-from-behind upset. Six years
later, Lieberman won in a landslide and repeated the performance
in 2000 to win his current third term.
In the Senate,
Lieberman's record combines conservative foreign policy views,
liberal domestic stances and pro-business leanings - placing him
close to the center and winning him support from both sides of
the political aisle. He was instrumental in establishing the Department
of Homeland Security and several other measures designed to counteract
terrorism. He has fought for campaign finance reform and education
reform, and called for tax incentives to promote business growth.
An Orthodox
Jew and strong supporter of Israel who observes the Sabbath as
a day of rest (this means no campaigning, though he would work
or vote if necessary), Lieberman also has a reputation as a champion
of religious values.
He sits on
several committees, including the Senate Governmental Affairs
Committee, where he once served as chairman and is now the ranking
member. He is also on the Environment and Public Works Committee,
the Small Business Committee, and the Armed Services' Subcommittee
on Emerging Threats and Capabilities and ranking member of the
Airland Subcommittee.
Lieberman's
pro-growth stance reflects the part he has played in founding
the Senate New Democrat Coalition - the senatorial arm of the
New Democrat Coalition, an alliance of Democratic lawmakers dedicated
to traditional values and economic development. He has also served
as chairman of the  Democratic
Leadership Council, the supervising board for the New Democrat
Coalition.
This combination
of principles made Lieberman an ideal choice as a running mate
for Gore's 2000 presidential bid. Lieberman also brought with
him a certain moral and ethical currency that Gore needed to counteract
the baggage of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. In fact, Lieberman
was the first Democratic senator to chastise President Clinton
for his behavior.
"The
president's relationship with Ms. Lewinsky not only contradicted
the values he has publicly embraced over the last six years, it
has, I fear, compromised his moral authority at a time when Americans
of every political persuasion agree that the decline of the family
is one of the most pressing problems we are facing," he said
on the Senate floor.
After the
2000 election, Lieberman publicly embraced the idea of running
for the presidency, but steadfastly asserted that he would not
pursue the Democratic nomination if his previous running mate,
Gore, decided to run again. When, in December 2002, Gore announced
he would not seek his party's nomination for 2004, Lieberman's
path was clear. The next month, Lieberman officially announced
his intentions to run for the Oval Office.
"You
may remember," Lieberman said, "that Al and I got a
half million more votes than our opponents, and we actually got
more votes than any Democratic ticket in the history of the United
States."
Lieberman's
path to the 2004 primaries has been bumpy at best. He has faced
a crowded field of contenders, and while he is consistently mentioned
in the top tier of candidates, he has failed to truly claim the
spotlight. One notable exception was his clash with former Gov.
Howard Dean of Vermont over support of Israel.
At a Sept.
9 debate in Baltimore, Lieberman said that comments Dean had made
about Middle East policy "break a 50-year record in which
presidents, Republicans and Democrats, members of Congress of
both parties have supported our relationship with Israel."
Dean defended
himself by saying his "position on Israel is exactly the
same as Bill Clinton's."
Another challenge
has been a new insurgence in the "progressive wing"
of the Democratic Party - a hurdle for the just-left-of-center
Lieberman.
Lieberman
and his wife, Hadassah, have a daughter together; he has a son
and daughter from a previous marriage, and she has a son from
a previous marriage.
-- By Chris Nammour, Online NewsHour
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