Abstract

Though heir to a long tradition of Jews in politics, Joseph Lieberman was the first Jew to be nominated by a major party for national office in the United States. As Democratic candidate for vice president in 2000, he received more popular votes than his opponent, Dick Cheney. Lieberman's persona as an observant modern Orthodox Jew appealed to many at a time when religion was increasingly prominent in public life. Projecting an aura of wholesomeness, moderation, and congeniality, he was the Jew as mensch, a man who, like Arthur Miller's Biff, succeeds in American society by making himself "well-liked." He was continuously in awe of his own success at fulfilling the American dream of equal opportunity. But by 2004, when politics became more polarized and his bid for the presidency foundered, Lieberman's Jewishness seemed irrelevant and his moderation a liability.

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