What Was Gore Thinking When He Picked Lieberman?

[Free Bird]

He knew the senate would be close, so why risk letting Rowland's appointed replacement tip the balance? He's not ideologically close to him at all. Who would you have picked if you were Gore?

[TDAS04]

Lieberman was a very stupid pick.  Bob Graham probably would have made the most sense strategically (except for Senate balance).  Maybe Jeanne Shaheen would have been a great pick in hindsight (more progressive, and New Hampshire would have been enough to deliver the election to Gore).

[Kevinstat]

He knew the senate would be close, so why risk letting Rowland's appointed replacement tip the balance? He's not ideologically close to him at all. Who would you have picked if you were Gore?

Before Even after Paul Coverdell (R-GA) died (Zell Miller was appointed by Dem Governor Roy Barnes and elected in the "special election" that November), I think the Senate was generally seen as out of reach by Democrats.  The House was far more of a target, and Gore and/or his advisors may have felt that the Lieberman pick would help the Democrats topple Nancy Johnson (Chris Shays was seen as safe back then) and could help shore-up the often underperforming Sam Gejdenson.  The Dems failed on both counts that year.  Not that a couple of U.S. House seats were on the Gore campaign's mind when Lieberman was picked, but to the extent that the Rowland Senate appointee concern may have existed, the House race effect in Connecticut may have been a counter consideration, especially since the House seemed more winnable than the Senate at the time.

[Edited to reflect that Sen. Coverdell died about a month before Lieberman was picked.  The vetting and thought process would have started before Coverdell died though.]

[bagelman]

My thoughts were that he could win by being as moderate as possible vs. the midunderestimated conservative Bush II and he likely thought that Nader would win no votes and he would win just like Bush I did.

[All Along The Watchtower]

He was trying to distance himself from Bill Clinton as much as possible. Remember, Clinton was still quite unpopular at least on a personal level c. 2000 (despite the public viewing his overall tenure in office -particular on the economy - quite favorably). And IIRC, Lieberman had been one of Clinton's harshest intraparty critics during the Lewinsky scandal era.

Keep in mind, though, that running mates didn't usually make  much of a difference to election performance even back then (and to a greater extent than one  might think, that's still true).

[Californiadreaming]

Lieberman was a very stupid pick.  Bob Graham probably would have made the most sense strategically (except for Senate balance).

Completely agreed. After all, if I remember correctly, Graham won five statewide elections in Florida before 2000 in contrast to Lieberman's zero.

[SingingAnalyst]

He was trying to distance himself from Bill Clinton as much as possible. Remember, Clinton was still quite unpopular at least on a personal level c. 2000 (despite the public viewing his overall tenure in office -particular on the economy - quite favorably). And IIRC, Lieberman had been one of Clinton's harshest intraparty critics during the Lewinsky scandal era.

Keep in mind, though, that running mates didn't usually make  much of a difference to election performance even back then (and to a greater extent than one  might think, that's still true).

This. Lieberman was a smart choice. Conservatives could not attack him frontally (I believe Lieberman had supported school vouchers). Statements that Shaheen or Graham would have been a better choice are 20/20 hindsight.

[Vosem]

Lieberman was an attempt to demonstrate that Gore was his own man and not a third term of Clinton, and that he understood the public's gripes. This was before foreign policy was really a major issue, so Lieberman was considered ideologically to be a pretty standard Democrat. Lieberman probably did help in Florida, too, in turning out the Jewish vote.

Would Gore have won had he picked Jeanne Shaheen or Bob Graham? Most likely, but hindsight is 20/20. Elections are rarely as close as 2000 was, and it's very difficult to anticipate the specific state that ends up deciding an election.

[Californiadreaming]

He was trying to distance himself from Bill Clinton as much as possible. Remember, Clinton was still quite unpopular at least on a personal level c. 2000 (despite the public viewing his overall tenure in office -particular on the economy - quite favorably). And IIRC, Lieberman had been one of Clinton's harshest intraparty critics during the Lewinsky scandal era.

Keep in mind, though, that running mates didn't usually make  much of a difference to election performance even back then (and to a greater extent than one  might think, that's still true).

This. Lieberman was a smart choice. Conservatives could not attack him frontally (I believe Lieberman had supported school vouchers).

Conservatives didn't need to attack Lieberman, though; rather, they could simply attack Gore instead.

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Maybe, but the thing is that Graham would have delivered Florida for Gore. Indeed, couldn't some people have already predicted back before November 2000 that Florida could decide the outcome of the 2000 U.S. Presidential election?