He raises big money. He wins elections. Occasionally he attacks opponents harshly or ditches friends and allies, if necessary. He fashions a public image based on polls and a canny knack for sensing opportunities for advancement. That may sound too obvious to state.
Nobody becomes a U.S. senator without doing all that.
But that obvious truth has been lost in the frenzy of celebration over Lieberman's selection as Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore's running mate, the first time a Jew, and a religious Jew at that, has been chosen to serve on a major-party presidential ticket. The press has turned Lieberman into an international celebrity. Voters of opposite stripes all believe Lieberman agrees with them. Even the Republican Party and the conservative press have painted this Democrat as a man above criticism. As a man above politics .