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| THE RUNNING MATE | |
| August 7,
2000 |
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Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman will run for vice president on the Democratic ticket. Kwame Holman reports from Capitol Hill on Lieberman's record and reaction to his nomination, followed by a discussion with Lieberman's colleagues.
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KWAME HOLMAN: Joseph Lieberman's appearance this morning before the Connecticut AFL-CIO Convention in Hartford was scheduled well in advance, but the news the state's junior Democratic Senator is Al Gore's pick for running mate was just a few hours old.
KWAME HOLMAN: Lieberman said he'd not yet received the official word. SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: All I know honestly at this moment is what I've heard on the media. The call hasn't come through yet, but, John, if the phone rings, I hope you'll interrupt me. KWAME HOLMAN: Nonetheless, Lieberman used the moment to criticize the Republicans. SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: When the working people of America look for a helping hand from the other party and the other ticket, they too often will receive the back of their hand. |
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| Moderate and influential | ||||||||||||||||||||
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KWAME HOLMAN: Joseph Isadore Lieberman is 58 years old. In 1988, Lieberman was the upset winner in a close U.S. Senate race, defeating incumbent Connecticut Senator Lowell Weickert. Six years later, Lieberman cruised to reelection with an overwhelming tally over his Republican challenger. As an Orthodox Jew, Lieberman does not travel, write, use electricity or engage in political activity on the Sabbath, from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. He is the first Jew to run on a major party presidential ticket.
Since 1995, Lieberman has chaired the Democratic Leadership Council,
the centrist Democratic Party group that Al Gore helped SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: If we want a safer, saner culture, we've got to clearly and loudly ask the people who shape it how many more kids must be slaughtered before we wake up to our shared responsibility to protect them from harmful influences on screen and off? We have to ask them, particularly the companies making money from the public airwaves, how are they serving the public interest by flooding them with conscienceless killing and demeaning sleaze. KWAME HOLMAN: Lieberman's best known stand came early in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He was the first Democratic Senator to denounce president Clinton's behavior with the White House intern. SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: No matter how much the President or others may wish to compartmentalize the different spheres of his life, the inescapable truth is that the president's private conduct can and often does have profound public consequences. In this case, the President apparently had extramarital relations with an employee half his age, and did so in the workplace, in the vicinity of the Oval Office. Such behavior is not just inappropriate, it is immoral and it is harmful, for it sends a message of what is acceptable behavior to the larger American family, particularly to our children, which is as influential as the negative messages communicated by the entertainment culture. |
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| Voted against impeachment | ||||||||||||||||||||
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SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: I know Al Gore well. I've known him for 15 years, and I can tell you that he is without a doubt a more qualified, more honorable, more intelligent, more progressive, more hard-working candidate for this high office. We have somebody ready to assume the presidency and the awesome responsibilities that come with it. Al Gore has, after all, not only had a great record before the last eight years, but during the last eight years; served as a full partner with the president in this administration, helping to shape this country's economic policy and growth, its social policy and advances, its foreign policy; and strengthened... and has fought for working families, making the federal government work better for the American people. KWAME HOLMAN: Vice President Gore called Lieberman at midday, offered him the job of running mate, and Lieberman accepted. Late this afternoon, Senator Lieberman boarded a plane bound for Nashville, Tennessee, for the formal unveiling of the Democratic presidential ticket will come at a rally tomorrow. |
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SEN.
JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: You know, a funny thing happened to me on my way to
the state AFL-CIO Convention today... 
Once
divorced, he's been married to second wife Hadassah for 17 years. He
has four children and two grandchildren. 
During
his Senate tenure, Lieberman established himself as a moderate and influential
voice in Washington. He was one of a handful of Democratic Senators
to back the Gulf War resolution in 1991, and he was a strong supporter
of the Clinton administration's efforts in last year's Kosovo campaign.
create
and Bill Clinton used to help launch his 1992 presidential campaign.
Lieberman supported such new Democrat initiatives as welfare reform
and tax breaks for small businesses, but also allied himself with social
conservatives on some issues. He co-sponsored the law that requires
the v-chip to be installed in new televisions, allowing parents to block
objectionable programming. And he condemned the entertainment industry
for marketing artists who use violent or sexually explicit material.
KWAME
HOLMAN: Ultimately, however, Lieberman joined the Senate majority in
voting down both articles of impeachment of the president. At the AFL-CIO
event this morning, Lieberman spoke about the vice president.