An independent streak in a partisan Washington
JOE LIEBERMAN 1942-2024
Joe Lieberman, who made history as the first Jewish vice-presidential candidate for a major US party and lately returned to the spotlight as a leader of a push for a third candidate in the 2024 election, died on Wednesday.
Lieberman died in New York at the age of 82 “due to complications from a fall”, his family said in a statement.
A long-time Democrat senator from Connecticut, Lieberman was most famous for his role at the heart of one of the most tense US elections in history, when he ran for vice-president in Democrat Al Gore’s 2000 bid.
Gore lost amid dramatic scenes to then Texas governor George W Bush, with the decision coming down to a disputed vote count in Florida and a Supreme Court ruling giving Bush the electoral college majority.
Lieberman was famous for his independent streak in sharply divided Washington politics. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 but was then considered seriously by Republican candidate John McCain as a running mate in his own failed bid for the presidency in the 2008 race won by Barack Obama.
A national security hawk, Lieberman broke with many in his Democratic Party over support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, while also ardently supporting liberal social views including on gun rights and abortion.
In 2006, Lieberman lost the Democratic primary to get reelected to the Senate. However he still won the contest that year, keeping his seat, by running as an independent.
In 2018, Lieberman was hired by Chinese telecoms company ZTE as it tried to fend off concerns that it posed a threat to US security. At the time, the former senator told Politico he was hired to conduct an “independent” national security assessment of its products.
He subsequently filed as a lobbyist for ZTE, according to media reports. But suspicion continued to build in Washington against the company, and in 2022 the US government banned sales or import of equipment made by ZTE on national security grounds.
In 2023, Lieberman returned to high-level politics as one of the most visible faces of No Labels, which says it wants to give Americans a feasible third choice in presidential elections.
President Joe Biden’s supporters have repeatedly said the organisation could eat into the Democrat’s base, and may hand what could be a tight election this November to Donald Trump.
Lieberman’s independent streak and especially his needling of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential contest rankled many Democrats. Yet his support for gay rights, civil rights, abortion rights and environmental causes at times won him the praise of many liberals over the years.