What Was Gore Thinking When He Picked Lieberman?

[Vosem]

Lieberman was an attempt to demonstrate that Gore was his own man and not a third term of Clinton, and that he understood the public's gripes. This was before foreign policy was really a major issue, so Lieberman was considered ideologically to be a pretty standard Democrat. Lieberman probably did help in Florida, too, in turning out the Jewish vote.

Would Gore have won had he picked Jeanne Shaheen or Bob Graham? Most likely, but hindsight is 20/20. Elections are rarely as close as 2000 was, and it's very difficult to anticipate the specific state that ends up deciding an election.