Joe Lieberman is a United States senator representing Connecticut. As the 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate, he became the first Jew in American history to run for national office on a major-party ticket. With close ties and a wide fan base among Evangelical Christians, a popular speaker at churches and conferences, Lieberman counts top Evangelical leaders including Pastor John Hagee, Joyce Meyer, and Rick Warren as his friends and supporters. Senator Lieberman lives in Stamford and Washington with his wife Hadassah. Together they are the proud parents of four children-Matthew, Rebecca, Ethan and Hana-four granddaughters, Tennessee, Willie, Eden and Madeleine, and a grandson, Yitzhak. Sarah Crichton, a former Newsweek editor, is publisher of Sarah Crichton Books at Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
When active national politicians publish books, it is usually a telltale sign that they want the presidency. John F. Kennedy began the modern precedent with Profiles in Courage, assisted by speechwriter Theodore Sorenson. Here, Senator Lieberman, the first Jewish vice-presidential candidate, and wife Hadassah, a first-generation American and child of Holocaust survivors, offer a joint memoir of the 2000 campaign, in which Lieberman's ticket captured the popular vote but lost the electoral vote in Florida's surreal voter count and recount. It is apparent that Al Gore tapped Lieberman, the first Democratic senator to condemn Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky affair, as damage control; an observant Jew, Lieberman daily offered a sharp contrast to Clinton's looseness. As with most campaign memoirs, this work offers few deep insights, though the reader captures a flavor of the modern campaign organization. Still, political buffs and Lieberman supporters will enjoy this memoir, which throws the senator's hat into the 2004 ring. Recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/02, as Going to the People.]-William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Readers expecting political insights, in-depth policy analysis or entertaining and gossipy insider information about the 2000 presidential election will have to look elsewhere than this diary-like account. Instead, the former Democratic vice-presidential candidate and his wife avoid any risk of controversy and offer a politically safe recounting of the campaign that does double duty as a preview of the centerpiece themes of a potential 2004 Lieberman run at the presidency. The narrative begins when Senator Lieberman learns he is on the short list of candidates and continues through the wrenching loss of Florida's electoral votes. The Liebermans alternate impressions, sometimes describing the same event. Suffice it to say there is no Rashomon-style disconnect, but rather unabashed and uninformative praise by each for the other. Hadassah Lieberman's view is the more novel, as she describes how the scrutiny that follows elevation to the national stage takes over her wardrobe, her personal routines and her natural voice as she is encouraged and cajoled by her campaign staff to "stay on message." The Liebermans are observant Jews, and their discussions on the role of religion in their lives and in American politics are thoughtful. But in the end this is a frustrating effort, as the Liebermans skate the surface of issues, content to wrap what could have been an interesting and dramatic insider story in a surfeit of praise for each other, Al Gore, their staffs, the Secret Service and all things American. Photos. (Jan.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
