Now Back to the Issues

Americans in general have responded warmly to the naming of Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an Orthodox Jew, to the Democratic Party ticket. In turn, Lieberman was outspoken about his faith as he accepted the vice presidential offer from Democrat Al Gore in Nashville on Tuesday. Lieberman, 58, opened his own speech with a prayer, mentioned God at least a dozen times and praised Gore “as a servant of God Almighty.”

The Connecticut senator’s outpouring is not surprising considering the historic significance of the moment and the thrill of being chosen. When Lieberman is formally nominated by Democrats in Los Angeles next week, he will become the first Jew to serve on a major-party presidential ticket. This barrier should have fallen long ago. We respectfully suggest, however, that the uniqueness of Lieberman’s position in the highest ranks of American politics be celebrated, then allowed to fade quickly. American voters and the media need to focus on the candidates’ records in office, their leadership abilities and their positions on issues--not their religious beliefs.

In this 2000 campaign the Republican Party has already seen some of its religious activists trot out an agenda of “values,” by which Pat Robertson and his allies clearly meant Christian values. GOP nominee George W. Bush has been almost boastful of his rectitude, no doubt to draw the contrast with the moral failings of President Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky affair. The Republican nominee identified Jesus Christ as his favorite philosopher and proclaimed June 10 as “Jesus Day” in Texas.

Gore too has worn his religious faith on his sleeve, describing himself as a born-again Christian and saying that when he faces tough decisions, he asks himself, “What would Jesus do?” What we want to know is what would Al Gore do.

Americans admire politicians with strong beliefs, religious and otherwise. That was one of Ronald Reagan’s great strengths. But voters should not be subjected to what amounts to a contest over which candidates are the most pious. Debates over moral issues, good and bad, right and wrong, should not be excluded from a political campaign. But morality has a much broader definition than what goes on inside a house of worship.

Let’s stipulate that Gore, Lieberman, Bush and Dick Cheney, Bush’s vice presidential running mate, are all men of deep faith and that each worships in his own way with conviction. That’s all we need to know on that subject.