Joe Lieberman

Joseph Isadore Lieberman (born February 24, 1942) is a Democratic politician and a current U.S. senator from Connecticut. In 2000, he ran for Vice President as Al Gore's running mate on the Democratic ticket, making him the first Jew nominated by a major party to run for that office.

Lieberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut and attended public schools there. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale in 1964 and his law degree from Yale Law School in 1967. Lieberman was elected to the Connecticut State Senate in 1970 and served there for 10 years, including the last 6 as Majority Leader. From 1982 to 1988, he served as Connecticut's 21st Attorney General.

Today Lieberman is generally regarded as one of the more conservative Democrats in the Senate.

Senate campaigns

When control of the Senate switched from the Republicans to Democrats hands in June 2001, Lieberman became Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee, with oversight responsibilities over a broad range of government activities. In addition, he is a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and chair of its Subcommittee Clean Air, Wetlands and Private Property; the Armed Services Committee, where he chaired the Subcommittee on AirLand Forces and sits of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities; and the Small Business Committee. When Republican control of the Senate resumed in January 2003, Lieberman resumed his role as ranking minority member of the committees he had once chaired.

Vice presidential campaign

In August 2000, the presumptive-Democratic nominee for president, Al Gore, tapped Lieberman to be his vice-presidential running mate. His selection marked the first time a Jewish candidate was part of major party's presidential ticket. Liberman's Senate term was also due to expire in that election cycle and he decided to stage a run to maintain that seat as well. If he won the vice presidency, he presumably would have resigned his Senate seat.

Presidential campaign

Lieberman is considered among the more conservative of prominent Democrat politicians, sometimes described as a "Republicrat" by the most liberal in the party. He has been a strong supporter of the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq and has criticized the left of his party (including some of his opponents for the Democratic nomination for the 2004 presidential election) for their opposition to the war. Lieberman argued that the Democratic Party needed a candidate who was strong on national defense to compete against George W. Bush. In response, rival campaigns derided him as "Bush-Lite". However, on some issues, particularly the environment, Lieberman follows the mainstream views of the Democratic party.

In December 2003, Al Gore, Lieberman's former running mate, endorsed Howard Dean. This caused a rift due to the fact that Gore did not call Lieberman to tell him of his endorsement. However, after the fact, it turned out Gore was to call all the candidates the night before, but the news was leaked to the media.

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"I cannot help but say, however, that those who were responsible for killing 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001, never apologized. Those who have killed hundreds of Americans in uniform in Iraq working to liberate Iraq and protect our security have never apologized. And those who murdered and burned and humiliated four Americans in Fallujah a while ago never received an apology from anybody. ... But Americans are different. That's why we're outraged by this. That's why the apologies were due."

"On the question that we're celebrating today, Howard Dean throughout this campaign has said he wasn't sure that Saddam really represented a threat to us. At one point he said, 'I suppose the Iraqis are better off with Saddam Hussein gone.' I would say this, and this is a choice the voters have to make in the primaries. If Howard Dean had his way, Saddam Hussein would be in power today, not in prison."

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