In middle of road, Lieberman hits bumps

His stint as Al Gore's running mate in 2000 has given him name recognition, but he is alienating some Democrats.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - As John A. Durkin sits in a corner booth at the Merrimack Restaurant, eating scrambled eggs beneath framed photos of Bill Clinton, Al Gore and other presidential candidates, he has harsh words for the presumptive heir to Clinton-Gore, Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Durkin, a former U.S. senator, says Lieberman brought an important spark to the Democratic ticket three years ago. Lieberman's son even worked on one of Durkin's campaigns. But Durkin is unhappy with the Connecticut senator's recent comments that the party is becoming weak on defense and wants to raise taxes.

"He's intimated that almost everyone who doesn't agree with his right-wing perch is part of the "loony left."' says Durkin, who is uncommitted in the race.

"He's on a tear, he's criticizing everyone," Durkin adds. "Joe just seems to be on a self-destructive binge."

Lieberman has lots of advantages for his presidential campaign: sky-high name recognition, a top-notch staff and close ties to party activists around the nation. He's using the same centrist approach that helped Clinton win.

Yet he is struggling. He is fourth in the latest polls in New Hampshire and Iowa and his support has dropped in the past few months. Some voters say he lacks pizazz and isn't offering enough new ideas.

"You've got to ignite a spark," said Deb Sklar, a retired lawyer in Bedford, N.H. "We want someone to light us up."

Barbara Schultz, a tutor from Manchester, says Lieberman seems like last year's model. "His disadvantage is that we've seen him before and we don't see anything new."

When Lieberman was picked as Gore's running mate in 2000, he brought energy to a campaign that was floundering.

His centrist message and emphasis on morality made some Democrats uncomfortable - he was dubbed "Holy Joe" - but he provided an important boost. In contrast to Gore's wooden style, Lieberman was full of humor and enthusiasm.

At campaign appearances, he was so popular that some activists mused he should have been at the top of the ticket.

After he and Gore lost the election, pundits predicted Lieberman would be a serious contender for 2004. The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call wrote in January 2001 that "the future has never looked so bright for the Connecticut Democrat."

He laid a foundation for a presidential campaign. He courted supporters in key states and used his role as chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee to speak out on a dizzying array of topics - Enron, ecstasy, frequent flier miles, anthrax and binge drinking.

He was especially active in homeland security and was one of the first in Congress to propose a separate cabinet department, an idea later embraced by President Bush. When Bush wanted to go to war against Iraq, Lieberman was one of his strongest Democratic supporters.

All along, Lieberman pushed his moderate message, reminding Democrats that Clinton won with a centrist approach.

But so far, that message has not grabbed Democratic voters.

Although he leads in some national polls - largely because of his name recognition - recent surveys in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first states to pick delegates, have him trailing Howard Dean, Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Richard Gephardt.

Says Andy Smith, director of the Survey Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, "I just haven't seen as much discussion, enthusiasm and buzz about the Lieberman campaign as I did four months ago."

In a speech to the National Press Club three weeks ago, Lieberman threw a political grenade into the race.

He said some Democrats "still prefer the old big-government solutions to our problems." He warned that front-runner Howard Dean and like-minded candidates "could lead the Democratic Party into the political wilderness for a long time to come" because of their opposition to the war and their desire to repeal all of the Bush tax cuts.

He likened his strategy to that of a boxer.

"When the opponent is covering up on his right, a left hook is not going to knock him out. We've got to go right up the middle."

Dick Swett, a former congressman from New Hampshire who is supporting Lieberman, said Democratic activists are forgetting that only moderate Democrats have won the White House in recent elections.

The activists "are letting the leading candidates intoxicate them with more liberal views that don't represent the rest of the country," Swett said.

Smith, the New Hampshire pollster, agrees: "There are some activists out here who would rather have a candidate who can shout and scream about what a terrible person George Bush is than pick someone who could put together an electoral coalition that could beat him."

But Lieberman's middle-of-the-road approach doesn't inspire much enthusiasm, Smith said.

"He is not a particularly charismatic speaker, he is not somebody with a lot of sex appeal, he is not new and hip," Smith said. "People know him, he's a solid adult candidate. But people are looking for hot and flashy."

Sklar, the retired attorney, says people like her in the political middle are not flashy. "Moderates tend to be the silent majority," she said. "We just live our lives."

James Pindell, managing editor of PoliticsNH.com, a Web site that tracks the presidential campaign, says Lieberman stands to benefit when independent voters - who are allowed to vote in the New Hampshire primary - start paying attention. "If anyone has a shot with independents, it's Lieberman," he said.

In campaign appearances last week, Lieberman was relaxed but low-key. He wore dress shirts without a tie, dress slacks and loafers. He had some tough lines about Bush to appeal to the Democratic base, but he also pointed out that he supported the war and endorses free trade.

"I'm running for president as an independent-minded Democrat," he told employees of Noyes Fiber Systems, a high-tech manufacturing company in Belmont. The employees had no objections to his moderate message.

He got a cooler reception farther north in Berlin from a crowd of steelworkers. His joke that the steel frame company made "a strong stud" fell flat. The steelworkers had only a couple of questions and did not seem interested.

"He's all right from what I've met of him," said Russell Godin, an assembler at the plant. "I'd have to see more."

Lieberman hopes to appeal to the soccer moms and other moderates who were crucial to Clinton's general election victories. He also says he can strike a chord with New Hampshire's independent voters. But in warning that his opponents might lead the party into the wilderness, he has angered Durkin and other Democrats who say he has moved too far to the right.

Donna Brazile, who managed the Gore-Lieberman campaign, told the Washington Post it was a "terrible" strategy: "Alienating a large segment of the Democratic Party base will not bode well for the future."

Yet Lieberman was unrepentant last week during an interview with the St. Petersburg Times.

"I am the most electable Democrat because I can take George Bush on where he is supposed to be strong - on defense, security and values - and beat him where he is weak, on a failed economic policy and a truly right-wing social agenda," he said while driving between campaign events in New Hampshire.

After the speech in Belmont, he told reporters that his views were in step with Democratic voters.

"We're in a very healthy debate now among the nine Democratic candidates," he said. "It's really about the heart and soul of the Democratic Party and the future of the party. There are differences of opinion and we're going to benefit from a very frank airing of those differences."

- Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.

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