On Lieberman Joseph Lieberman, the Senator from Connecticut, was the first Jewish major party candidate for Vice-President in US history. If Gore had won the election and subsequently become incapacitated during his Presidency, Lieberman could have become the first Jewish President of the United States. For Jews, even though Lieberman lost, it was a proud moment and perhaps a portent of another Jew becoming President at some time in the future.
Why did Gore pick Lieberman out of all the choices he had last summer? Gore had a very tricky task to do. He needed to show that he was critical of Clinton's moral failings while still being able to take credit for the strong economy that Clinton presided over. He could not directly criticize Clinton during the campaign, so the next best thing was to name a running mate who had already done so. Joseph Lieberman was the first prominent Democrat to condemn Clinton's behavior during the Monica scandal, and so picking him would give Gore the opportunity to send the exact message he wanted to without directly attacking Clinton.
The other main reason that Lieberman was picked was tactical. The Jews traditionally are Democrats, and Gore was going to win most of their votes. But in Florida, a state that both campaigns knew was critical, the key to victory was likely to be how high a turnout would actually occur among your supporters. Bush had to get white males to go to the polls in large numbers, while Gore needed a massive Black and Jewish turnout. Lieberman made Florida his project and spent much of the campaign there working with a large elderly and retired Jewish community.
Without the Lieberman factor, Florida would not have been so close, and Bush would have won much more easily. He made that race razor close, and it's pretty obvious that Gore and Lieberman think they did win Florida in reality.
But even if Lieberman had won, I don't think it would have been as significant an event as many made it. The Vice-Presidency is a powerless post whose main function is to attend the funeral of second-rate world leaders. Lyndon Johnson once described it as “not worth a bucket of warm spit”. Its only real significance is that in the last 40 years it has become a stepping stone to being nominated for President by your party. Nixon in 1960, Humphrey in 1968, Mondale in 1984, Bush in 1988, and Gore in 2000 were all active or previous Vice-Presidents. What's interesting is that all of them lost except for Bush in 1988. Even if Gore had won and served two terms, I think it is unlikely that Lieberman could have been nominated and elected in 2008. That would have meant that Republicans would have to lose 5 consecutive Presidential elections to 3 different candidates, and that would be asking for a very unlikely run of one party rule in the White House.
Does the Lieberman candidacy mean that Jews will likely be part of major party tickets in the near future? That is unlikely. The only prominent Jew in the Republican Party is Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, who is too old and not a credible national figure, besides being unacceptable to the religious right. The Democrats have 7 other Jewish Senators, but none of them can be considered acceptable national candidates. They are all very liberal and would add little value to a national campaign where the name of the game is grabbing the swing voters in the middle. Lieberman is the only Jewish Senator who is conservative and that made him a good choice for Gore, but there are no other Liebermans in the Democratic Party.
Walter Mondale picked Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 as his running mate. She was the first female major party candidate, but is now just a footnote in presidential political history. Most likely the Lieberman candidacy, in terms of its significance for Jews, will be a similar footnote. What he did do is to break down the view that only Christians can be national party candidates. Sometime in this new century it is highly likely that a non-Christian will be elected President, and Lieberman will be viewed as having paved the way.
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