Gore’s Actions Leave Lieberman Feeling Slighted

A candid and clearly miffed Joe Lieberman on Tuesday expressed chagrin about former Vice President Al Gore’s endorsement of Howard Dean for president, as the Dean campaign sought to clarify why Gore did not notify his 2000 presidential running mate of his decision before news of it surfaced.

Dean aides said Gore was traveling from Japan on Monday and planned to call Lieberman after his arrival in the U.S. But news of his planned endorsement leaked out before then.

Dean aides said that after Gore landed, he attempted several times to reach Lieberman, but that aides to the Connecticut senator said Lieberman was at a fundraising event and could not be reached.

Lieberman spokesman Dan Gerstein said his office did not receive any calls from Gore’s staff until 8:30 p.m. Monday, well after news of the planned endorsement had surfaced.

“We didn’t get any heads-up,” Gerstein said. “Neither Sen. Lieberman nor the staff were aware this was going to break. We saw it on TV, like everyone else.”

Lieberman could not be reached for comment.

But Gerstein said Lieberman told CNN that he had heard from Gore on Tuesday morning. He described the conversation as “four to five minutes in length, and too late,” Gerstein said.

When asked on NBC’s “Today Show” about Gore’s loyalty to him -- given that Lieberman had launched his campaign only after Gore decided not to run -- Lieberman responded: “I’m not going to talk about Al Gore’s sense of loyalty this morning.”

Even in the no-holds-barred world of national politics, some said Gore’s handling of the matter was a stinging insult to a longtime political ally.

“If Lieberman did indeed find out about the endorsement from the press, it would be amazingly cheesy that he never received a call from Gore,” said Charles Cook, a campaign analyst.

“You think he would have phoned Joe Lieberman just as common courtesy -- he certainly owed him that,” Cook said. “But then, there were a lot of people who worked their [tails] off for [Gore] in the [2000] campaign and never got a phone call.”

Teaming up in 2000, Gore and Lieberman had frequently dined at one another’s homes, and Lieberman attended the wedding of Gore’s eldest daughter.

On Tuesday, Lieberman suggested that the endorsement demonstrated Gore’s political shift from Democratic centrist to the party’s left.

“That’s where I’m surprised here,” Lieberman said. “Al Gore is endorsing somebody who has taken positions in this campaign that are diametrically opposed to what Al himself has said he believed in over the years.”

Lieberman also told NBC that he had spoken to President Clinton on Monday night, but he offered few details. “The important thing to say here is that we both laughed,” he said.

Asked if he had changed his mind regarding his plan to offer Gore a “high office” as president, Lieberman chuckled.

“I’d say that’s less likely this morning,” he said.

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Times staff writer Mark Z. Barabak contributed to this report.