After Loss in Must-Win Delaware, Lieberman Decides to Quit Race

Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut bowed out of the presidential race after setbacks in Tuesday’s seven contests, the final blows for a campaign that never managed to springboard from his historic selection as the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Subdued but smiling, Lieberman addressed his staff and supporters in a crowded hotel ballroom in suburban Virginia, telling them: “For me, it is now time to make a difficult but realistic decision.... I have decided tonight to end my quest for the presidency of the United States of America.”

Lieberman, 61, did not say which of his rivals he planned to endorse, if any, but pledged to “support our party’s nominee and do whatever I can to deny George Bush a second term and give the American people a fresh start.”

His loss in Delaware on Tuesday spelled the end of his presidential bid. He had targeted it as a must-win state and spent more time there than any of his rivals did, only to run a distant second to the winner, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts.

Sensing the worst, aides invited his most loyal followers to assemble in the ballroom Tuesday evening. Lieberman met with senior staff about half an hour after the Delaware polls closed to decide his candidacy’s fate.

His withdrawal marks the end of a campaign that was underachieving from the start, a performance that was clearly a letdown for a well-known politician who hoped to build on his status as the first Jewish candidate on a major-party presidential ticket when Al Gore tapped him as his running mate in 2000.

He seemed well positioned to capitalize on the fury of the party faithful in the wake of that contested election. But in the end, the even-keeled temperament that appealed to many in the last campaign hurt him among Democrats now looking for a candidate who embodied their intense dislike of President Bush.

“Lieberman doesn’t seem confrontational. Even when he’s angry, he doesn’t seem particularly angry,” said Stuart Rothenberg, a Washington campaign analyst. “Another place, another time, he might have proved a more salable commodity. But he didn’t fit the profile for 2004. It’s just that simple.”

Expected by analysts to burst onto the scene with a head of steam based on his name recognition -- he was the top pick for the nomination in the early national polls of Democrats -- Lieberman’s campaign instead was plagued by problems from its inception. He spent most of 2003 on the sidelines as Gore pondered a run, deferring to the man who gave him national celebrity.

By the time Gore opted out, many of the best Democratic minds were pledged to other campaigns, and Lieberman’s fundraising apparatus was lagging. Money expected to flow from the nation’s Jewish community never approached the sums he had counted on.

His politics seemed too conservative for many Jewish voters, and there appeared to be an unwillingness to back him purely on the grounds of shared faith.

“He had no real constituency,” said a Democratic strategist.

Even with a proper start, some analysts said, Lieberman’s centrist message -- and, more crucially, his strong support for the war with Iraq -- was out of sync with the party’s base.

“His highest-profile comments in the debate were that going to war was the right thing,” Rothenberg said. “While Democrats may be beyond the anger stage on the war, they don’t believe we did the right thing.”

Lieberman also suffered a personal blow when Gore decided in December to throw his support to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, then the frontrunner. Gore did not notify Lieberman of the decision before making it public, and Lieberman did not conceal his resentment, describing a morning-after phone call from his old friend as “too late.”

Deciding to skip the caucuses in Iowa, where Democrats tend to be more liberal, Lieberman focused his limited resources on New Hampshire. Moving to a Manchester apartment with his wife, Hadassah, he campaigned almost exclusively there for several weeks.

New Hampshire voters seemed to admire the Democrat who was one of the first in his party to take President Clinton to task over the Monica S. Lewinsky affair and greeted him warmly as he traveled the state in his bus, dubbed “Integrity One.” But few pledged to vote for him.

Kerry’s upset win in Iowa and the furor over Dean’s concession speech that night dominated the final stage of the New Hampshire campaign and eclipsed Lieberman’s hopes of breaking through.

“The truth is, he did have an interesting candidacy, and a lot of what he had to say was provocative,” said Los Angeles Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who advised the failed presidential candidacy of Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.). “But there just didn’t seem to be a moment when he got to be center stage.”

Lieberman wound up with 9% of the New Hampshire vote; he sought to depict the showing as respectable, but he ran fifth in a seven-candidate field.

Some thought he would withdraw then, but he steamed ahead, staking out Delaware as his “must-win state.” It was not to be.

Some Democrats said Lieberman’s poor showing underscored the party’s shift away from the center staked out by Clinton.

“Times have changed from when Bill Clinton was running,” said Sen. John B. Breaux (D-La.).

It also demonstrated the difference between being tapped as a vice presidential candidate and winning the top spot through the primary process.

“The liberal activist base is even more involved in the primaries,” Breaux said.

The end of Lieberman’s presidential campaign does not spell the end of his political career. His Senate term ends in 2006, and his aides say he has no plans to retire at that point.

“He should remain as a senator. This country needs him,” Dennis Grising, 58, of Virginia said after Lieberman made his exit.

Some politicians who lost their bid for the White House have had a difficult time returning to their old careers in Congress. Gephardt, who withdrew from the presidential campaign last month, already had said he would give up his House seat.

But others, such as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, have had some of their most productive years in Congress after a failed presidential bid. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who challenged Bush for the 2000 GOP nomination, resumed an active legislative career as chairman of a major committee.

As Lieberman put it Tuesday night: “Dear friends, a campaign ends. But life goes on.”

Times staff writers Janet Hook and Jon Marino contributed to this report.