Waiting For Al

Joe Lieberman says he hopes Al Gore will make a timely decision about whether he will run for president and says he will support his Democratic running mate from 2000 if Gore decides to run again.

Lieberman, the Connecticut senator who was the vice presidential candidate when Gore was the nominee, said Gore told him at a recent dinner that he's undecided about running again, though some accounts after a recent meeting of Gore's financial supporters in Memphis, Tenn., made it seem likely he would run.

"He has not decided to run," Lieberman told a group of reporters at a lengthy session during the Democratic Leadership Council's annual meeting. "It was a 50-50 matter."

Gore spokesman Jano Cabrera said Sunday night: "Gore has yet to make up his mind."

In the meantime, Lieberman is meeting with state delegations from early states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina - telling them that he wants to run as a "New Democrat," referring to the pro-growth, pro-business philosophy of the DLC.

Gore has been criticized by some in the centrist DLC for a campaign that some believe took on an economic populist tone that the DLC has been trying to move away from for more than a decade.

Lieberman said that he and Gore ran on a program that was faithful to New Democrat values, but said some of the campaign rhetoric about "the people vs. the powerful" may have sent the wrong message.

"It was not the pro-growth approach," Lieberman said. "It ultimately made it more difficult for us to gain the support of some`of the middle class, independent voters who don't see America as 'us vs. them,' but more in Kennedy's terms of a rising tide lifts all boats."

Lieberman said that message was inconsistent with Gore's previous record and "ultimately hurt."

Asked whether he would support Gore if he runs another economic populist campaign and there's no other "New Democrat" in the race, Lieberman said: "That's an alluring question I won't answer right now."

He said his pledge not to run unless Gore decides to stay out of the race is "timeless" but said he expects Gore will make a timely decision after this November's elections. He said some supporters have encouraged him to drop his pledge, but he doesn't plan to do that.

"My hope, belief and trust is that he will make a decision in a timely way that will allow me to wage an effective campaign," Lieberman said of Gore.

By Will Lester