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As VP choice, Lieberman covers two bases for Gore

By Tony Karon

(TIME.com) -- Most of Al Gore's vice presidential options covered one base; Joe Lieberman covered at least two -- inoculation against Clinton fatigue, and shoring up the liberal base. And that made choosing him an inspired gambit, with an upside that overcame any reservations about whether the country will vote for a Jewish vice president.

As the first Democrat to unreservedly castigate President Clinton over Monica Lewinsky, Lieberman may have been the best choice to neutralize Governor Bush's "restore dignity and honor to the White House" refrain and pull the rug out from under Bush's strategy of running against President Clinton.

At the same time, their short list suggests that Gore's handlers were also concerned to stanch the bleeding on their left flank, where Ralph Nader may prove to be more than simply a gadfly. And while Lieberman's hawkish positions on defense haven't exactly made him a champion of the Democratic party left, he's tended to vote with liberals on taxes, abortion, gun control and other social issues.

And then there's the ethnic question: While America may have officially liquidated anti-Semitism decades ago, Jews haven't exactly been the chosen people of presidential politics. Then again, it's not only California and New York that have elected Jews to the Senate, but also Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan and Connecticut. That and the fact that President Clinton has appointed more Jews to the Cabinet than any of his predecessors suggests that Gore isn't so much breaking a taboo as confirming a trend.

Moreover, Lieberman's seriousness about religion -- he's an orthodox Jew, which is serious business -- gives him an even greater aura as a moral leader rather than just an ethnic one. You'll probably be seeing Gore in a yarmulke more often than before, and not just at fund-raisers or United Jewish Appeal dinners.

Copyright © 2000 Time Inc.

Monday, August 7, 2000

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