Lieberman Quits Race After Tuesday Defeats

Speaking before a crowd of his supporters in Arlington, Va., where his campaign was headquartered, Lieberman said, “The judgment of the voters is now clear.”

“For me, it is now time to make a difficult but realistic decision. I have decided tonight to end my quest for the presidency of the United States of America.”

Lieberman won only 11 percent of the votes in Delaware, the one state in which he expected to do well, trailing far behind front-runner Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who received 50 percent of the vote. Lieberman tied North Carolina Sen. John Edwards for second.

Lieberman, a veteran senator and the nominee for vice president in 2000, expressed his disappointment, but said he was proud of his campaign.

“I offered a mainstream voice and I still believe that is the right choice and the winning choice for our party and our country,” he said. But, he also said he would accept the decision. “Today, the voters have rendered their verdict and I accept it.”

Since his poor showing in the New Hampshire primary, where he placed fifth, losing to Edwards and retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark, Lieberman had campaigned hard in Oklahoma, Delaware and Arizona. He had said he expected to win the Delaware primary and perform well in Arizona after his campaign received the endorsement of state’s largest newspaper, the Arizona Republic, in late January.

But analysts said Lieberman’s moderate stance on everything from tax cuts to free trade, his lack of funding and his strong support of the war in Iraq may have alienated liberal voters and diminished his chances of winning any of Tuesday’s key states. As early as Tuesday afternoon, the Associated Press reported that Lieberman had been making contingency plans for his withdrawal, calling supporters to the Hyatt Regency in Arlington, where the campaign planned a post-election night party.

A Washington Post report Tuesday quoted Rep. Calvin Dooley, D-Calif., an early supporter of the senator, as saying he thinks the campaign was not able to get any traction because Lieberman was “perceived as being less of a contrast from President Bush than other candidates.”

Lieberman, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Government Affairs Committee, came into the public spotlight in 2000 when presidential nominee Al Gore chose him as his running mate. Lieberman became the first Jewish candidate for the vice presidency.

But his loyalty to Gore may have hurt his chances in the 2004 race. At the start of the campaign season last year, Lieberman pledged to stay out of the race if Gore chose to run. The pledge cost his campaign valuable time and money, according to some analysts.

In January, Gore overlooked his former partner and endorsed former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

On Tuesday, Lieberman said he would support whoever became the Democratic nominee for president.