guy who ponders questions, who
agonizes, who thinks things through,
but who also acts with a gritty politi-
cal skill that belies the "above the
fray" image some observers like to
attach to him.
Michael Lewan, a former chief of
staff and now a political consultant,
said that Lieberman's thought
processes are more like a Jesuit's or a
Talmudist's than a politician's — but
that "his office is neither a monastery
nor a yeshiva; it's a very sophisticated
political operation."
Lewan said that Lieberman ago-
nized over his speech three weeks ago
in which he expressed his "deep dis-
appointment and personal anger" at
the president's Aug. 17 address to the
nation acknowledging an "inappro-
priate relationship" with White
House intern Monica Lewinslcy, but
blasting independent counsel
Kenneth Starr, as well.
But when the agonizing was done,
the senator "produced something that
was pure Joe Lieberman," Lewan
said. "There were no 'applause lines';
it was meant to be taken seriously."
Republican lawmakers had been
attacking Clinton for months, a ris-
ing collective partisan screech, and a
growing number of Democrats, anx-
ious about their party's chances in
November, were putting space
between themselves and the embat-
tled president.
Lieberman's blast unleashed a tor-
rent of new criticism from
Democrats and Republicans alike.
At a meeting of the International
Fellowship of Christians and Jews
last week, Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.)
called the speech a "defining moment
that brought the American people
back to a realization of the principles
that are so important to our nation.
It took great courage to do it."
Lieberman, he said, was "the per-
fect person, and perhaps the only
person in the U.S. Congress, who
could do that with the moral author-
ity he has established."
The speech and its aftermath
added to Lieberman's mystique. "He's
the kind of man who could rise in
historical terms to be the conscience
of the Senate," said Gilbert Kahn, a
Kean College political scientist and
consultant. "In 30 years, people
could look back and say he provided
the moral compass for the Senate for
generations. But he's also ambitious;
he clearly has the stomach to run for
higher office."
Now there's talk in political circles

9/25

1 998

74 Detroit Jewish News

that he'd be a perfect match for his
long-time friend Vice President Al
Gore, whose close association with
Clinton and whose own campaign
finance woes may lead him to seek a
running mate with impeccable moral
credentials.
Whether that happens or not,
Washington insides say, he has
already changed Jewish politics.
He has encouraged observant Jews
in the belief that it is possible to
combine politics with their religion.
He has changed the image of Jewish
politicos in Washington through the
friendships he has forged, and he has
given the Jewish community a frame-
work with which to enter the emerg-
ing national debate over values —
which polls show Americans now
identify as the biggest problem facing
the nation.

But Lieberman beat those odds by
a slim 10,000-vote margin. Despite
his anger about the Jewish money
gap, he didn't hold a grudge.
"He's practical," said a longtime
observer. "As far as Joe was con-
cerned, contributors were making a
pragmatic political choice — and
now that he was the incumbent, he
expected them to make a similar
one."
They did, and he won re-election
handily in 1994 — by a margin of
350,000.
In 1995 he became chair of the
Democratic Leadership Council, the
Democratic faction seeking to pull
the party back toward the political
center. Lieberman, one of the most
conservative Democrats in the Senate
but also a politician who defied tra-
ditional left-right demarcations,
became an effective spokesman for
the
group.
Getting To Know Lieberman
During
his Senate career,
So just who is Sen. Joe Lieberman?
Lieberman
focused first on crime and
After almost 10 years in the
the
environment,
but he slowly gravi-
Senate, the stories of his Capitol Hill
tated toward many of the issues
sleepovers to avoid traveling on
championed by the Christian right.
Shabbat are legion. Even non-Jewish
In 1995, he teamed up with for-
staffers are familiar with the tale of
mer
Education Secretary and values
how he missed his own nomination
guru
William Bennett to wage war
in a run for state office in
on
sex-and-sensation
television
Connecticut because the convention
shows.
He has
was held on a
been an outspo-
Friday night; he
ken supporter of
had to send a
various schemes
videotaped accep-
for aid to
tance speech.
parochial
schools,
In 1970, the
putting
him
at
Yale Law School
odds
with
main-
graduate was
stream Jewish
elected to the
groups, and he
Connecticut state
pushed the video
senate; 12 years
game industry to
later, he was elect-
create a ratings
ed attorney gener-
system
to protect
al for the state. In
children
from vio-
that position, he
lent
or
sexually
earned a reputa-
explicit games.
tion as a tough
Lieberman
crime fighter and
developed close
a staunch envi-
ties to leading
ronmentalist.
Republican law-
In 1988 he
— Michael Lewan,
makers.
He
took on the vener-
a former Lieberman chief of sta ff
teamed
up
with
able Sen. Lowell
Sen.
Connie
Weicker, a
Mack (R-Fla.) on
Republican who had been close to the
a
number
of
pro-Israel
measures; he
Jewish community over the years. Pro-
became
co-chair
of
the
Center for
Israel political action committees and
Jewish
and
Christian
Values
with
individual Jewish contributors gave
Senator
Coats:
Seated
next
to
each
most of their money to Weicker — an
other
on
a
flight
to
visit
the
troops
incumbent with a good record on
after the Gulf War, the two legislators
Israel. Few Jewish high rollers were
both reached down to their travel
ready to take a chance on an
bags
at the same time and pulled out
Orthodox newcomer facing long odds.

"He's just a good
guy. He'd be a
good guy if he
owned a liquor
store in
Connecticut, and
he's a good guy
in the Senate."

Bibles — one Jewish and one
Christian. The incident solidified
their friendship, Lieberman said
recently.
He was an early supporter of the
presidential candidacy of the former
governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton;
in 1992, Lieberman was the most
active Senate fund-raiser for the
Clinton-Gore ticket, and much of
the money he raised came from
Jewish donors.
When Orthodox leaders seemed
skittish about the liberalism of the
ticket, Lieberman met with several
— once in a sukkah — to reassure
them of Clinton's centrist principles.
Throughout his tenure, Lieberman
insisted that faith — his own Jewish
faith as well as the Christian faith of
many of his colleagues — should be
an important frame of reference for
political leaders.
"Faith is a unifying force, not a
dividing force," he told supporters of
the International Fellowship of
Christians and Jews at their
Washington conference last week.
"In our Declaration of
Independence, it is declared that we
all have this right to life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness. But where
did it come from? Not from the
framers of the Declaration them-
selves, but it was an endowment of
our Creator."
When Christian activists say
things like that, Jews think about
sleek, slippery televangelists and
Bible Belt politicians promoting
"Christian nation" resolutions. But
when the source is Joe Lieberman,
many listen to the core message for
the first time.

Affecting The Community

That reflects just one of the factors
that makes Lieberman a pivotal
Jewish figure.
The lawmaker's obvious high
standing among colleagues of both
parties and his status as the Senate's
only Orthodox Jew are sources of
inspiration for the community
"The fact that he's become one of
the five most influential and respect-
ed members of the Senate is a real
source of pride," said Baltimore
political activist Howard Friedman.
"The fact that the one Jewish senator
out of 10 who is frequently men-
tioned as a potential vice presidential
candidate is very serious about his
religion, very visibly Jewish, has real-
ly had an impact on our communi-

ty