Gore Picks Lieberman for Running Mate
— -- Democratic presidential hopeful Al Gore has selected Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the first Jewish vice presidential candidate in history, to be his running mate.
ABCNEWS.comAug. 7— Al Gore made history today, tapping Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate, the first time in U.S. history that a Jewish person has run on a national ticket. Lieberman called the pick “a miracle.”
The Connecticut senator received a call from the vice president on his cell phone this afternoon at his home in New Haven. He accepted the offer.
“It’s a special honor to be asked to run for vice president by a man I deeply believe in,” Lieberman had said earlier.
With most of the speculation centering on other candidates late Sunday, Lieberman said he went to bed “convinced” that he “had no chance to get it.”
But, he said, “Miracles happen … I consider this a miracle for which I’m grateful.”
Center Stage
Having served just two terms in the Senate, Lieberman nevertheless already wields significant influence, largely due to his maverick ways and civility. The 58-year-old Yale graduate doesn’t always walk in lock step with the Democrats and, in fact, was one of the harshest critics of President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Back then, he had lambasted Clinton for being “immoral” and “harmful.” Today, Lieberman praised the Clinton administration as “strong, steady, progressive and humane.”
Picking this centrist signals an effort by Gore to win over independents and to distance himself from Clinton’s controversies.
But on Martha’s Vineyard today, the president lavished praise on Lieberman, referring to him as “a friend of mine for 30 years.” Clinton refused to answer questions about the Connecticut senator’s past criticism of his morality, saying he did not want to overshadow Lieberman’s day.
“I think he’s just an extraordinary guy … he’s an amazing person,” Clinton said. “He’s been great for America with what he’s done in the Senate over the last eight years.”
Critics have branded Lieberman as a liberal who votes for abortion rights, gun control and tax hikes. But he is considered more conservative when it comes to issues such as defense spending and family values. He once teamed up with former Reagan Education Secretary William Bennett in a campaign against violence and obscene entertainment.
In Connecticut, Lieberman has gained admiration from Republican Gov. John G. Rowland, who recently called the senator “a great friend of mine.”
While Lieberman said he plans to continue his Senate race while campaigning with Gore, a promotion to vice president would require resignation from the Senate — assuming he is re-elected. That would leave Rowland to appoint Lieberman’s successor to serve until the next state election in 2002.
As state attorney general in the 1970s, Lieberman focused on consumer rights issues. His Senate record on the environment, education, defense, foreign affairs and economic development arecited by his advocates in Gore’s inner circle.
Even before he got the call, Lieberman began taking shots at Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush.
“Look at what Governor Bush is proposing,” Lieberman said in a speech to the state AFL-CIO in Hartford. “Instead of saving Social Security, he’s on a course to savage it with a privatization scheme that would take $1 trillion out ofthe nest egg that belongs to every worker in America, and jeopardize the program stability and the security of the working future of the American people.”
Unorthodox Pick
Gore’s selection of an Orthodox Jew is a first for a major-party ticket in the United States.
“Many political analysts suggested Lieberman couldn’t possibly be chosen in the end because there are real questions about whether Americans, enough Americans, would be willing to vote for a Jewish vice president under any circumstances,” says ABCNEWS Political Director Mark Halperin.
“This is sure to get a lot of a debate in the coming weeks, but Joe Lieberman obviously brings much more to the ticket than simply his religion.”
In an interview with ABCNEWS on Friday, Gore commented on the possibility of having a Jewish vice president.
“I don’t think those old distinctions and categories matter these days, the way they did in the past. I think we’ve grown as a nation, I think we’ve grown beyond that kind of attitude,” Gore said. “I think that the day is coming when that’ll be completely irrelevant in all of our politics.”
Lieberman himself said, “I am absolutely convinced that my religion will not play a role in this.”
A Gallup poll in 1937 asked Americans if they would vote for a Jewish candidate for president ; just 46 percent said yes. Gallup asked a similar question last year — and 92 percent said yes.
Separately, when an ABCNEWS poll in 1983 asked people if they would vote for a Jewish candidate for vice president, 83 percent said they would.
Gore Mulled Choice Over Weekend
On Sunday, Gore campaign officials told ABCNEWS the vice president would sleep on his choices, but Gore said earlier in the day that he has not yet selected a candidate.
“I have not decided yet — but I will, and shortly,” Gore tolda Democratic Party fund-raising audience in Southampton, N.Y.
He flew to Nashville, Tenn., on Sunday afternoon to meet with former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, the head of his vice-presidential search committee, leading to speculation he had made a decision, and Christopher said the decision was close.
“We’re coming to the end of the road,” Christopher told reporters.
Among the leading contenders on Gore’s short list of a half-dozen candidates plus at least one unnamed “wild card” were Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Evan Bayh of Indiana, New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri.
Throughout the process, Gore repeatedly expressed a desire to keep his search process out of the public eye. Last week he told reporters it was “only fair” to do so, adding, “I’ve been through this process myself on the other side,” alluding to his selection by Bill Clinton in 1992.
ABCNEWS Radio’ Pam Coulter, ABCNEWS Political Director Mark Halperin, the ABCNEWS polling unit and The Associated Press contributed to this report.