ASHINGTON - Joseph I. Lieberman supposedly had no chance. It was July 1988, and Lieberman, then Connecticut's attorney general, was trying to unseat an icon. US Senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr., a Republican, was up 17 points in the polls. Moreover, many Jewish voters, while attracted to Lieberman as an Orthodox Jew, stood by Weicker, whose pro-Israel record was unquestioned.
But Lieberman won in a race still considered a stunning upset. His religion proved of little consequence. Instead, Lieberman won partly by running an ad that satirized his opponent as a sleeping bear who missed too many votes. The ad was produced by the same consultant, Carter Eskew, who now is Al Gore's message maven and advised Gore on the vice presidential selection.
Now, as Gore's running mate, Lieberman has been thrust into another uphill race, with Republican George W. Bush up 17 points in some polls. No sooner had Lieberman's selection become known yesterday than he was quickly tagged with two labels - devoutly religious and politically moderate. But the enduring truths about Lieberman are that he cannot be easily labeled, and that his political skills should not be underestimated.
On any given day, Lieberman could accurately be described as a liberal or a conservative. For example, he supports abortion rights but also has spoken against affirmative action. He supported pilot programs for private school vouchers while most in the Democratic Party oppose them.
If Lieberman and Gore occupy the same broad middle ground within the Democratic Party, they arrived at that point from opposite directions: Gore is a former conservative who has become more liberal. Lieberman got his start in antiwar politics and once opposed the death penalty. He is now one of most vocal hawks among Senate Democrats and supports the death penalty.
''The image is often out of sync with the reality,'' said Howard L. Reiter, a professor of political science at the University of Connecticut who has long watched Lieberman's career. ''He is a hard man to pigeonhole.''
Lieberman dreamed of a career in politics while growing up in what he describes as a lower-income neighborhood in Stamford, Conn. Lieberman's father, Henry, ran a liquor store and never went to college. Lieberman recalls that his family was educated and spiritual in ways that deeply affected him.
''I was raised in a religiously observant family, which gave me the clear answers of faith to life's most difficult questions,'' Lieberman wrote in a recently published autobiography, ''In Praise of Public Life,'' which extols public service and excoriates immorality in politics and Hollywood.
Summarizing his spirituality, Lieberman writes: ''My parents and my rabbi ... taught me that our lives were a gift from God, the Creator, and with it came a covenantal obligation to serve God with gladness by living as best we could, according to the laws and values that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai. The summary of our aspirations was in the Hebrew phrase `tikkun olam,' which is translated, `to improve the world,' or `to repair the world,' or, more boldly, `to complete the Creation which God began.'''
Lieberman envisioned his future clearly at Yale University, where his nickname was ''Senator'' because of his ceaseless interest in politics. While at Yale, he wrote a thesis, later turned into a book called ''The Power Broker,'' about the Connecticut Democratic Party boss, John Bailey, who also was chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Lieberman studied Bailey, interviewed him, watched him organize campaigns. Then he used the Bailey method for himself.
Lieberman won his first political race, a 1970 campaign for a state Senate seat, with the help of a fellow Yale alumnus named Bill Clinton.
Lieberman quickly rose in the Democratic ranks in Connecticut, becoming Senate majority leader. But in 1980, he ran for the US House but blew a 19-point lead in the polls and suffered what he later called a ''simply stunning'' defeat. After the election, Lieberman and his first wife, Betty Haas, with whom he had two children, were divorced. Lieberman called it ''the most difficult and painful decision I had ever made.'' Lieberman wrote in his recent book that his divorce was never used against him politically until he gave his speech on the Senate floor denouncing Clinton's affair with Monica S. Lewinsky.
''There were letters to the editor in various newspapers asking what gave a divorced man the right to be so morally self-righteous,'' Lieberman wrote.
In 1982, after the divorce, Lieberman met Hadassah Freilich, the daughter of Holocaust survivors who had settled in Gardner, Mass., and married her a year later. Lieberman also plunged back into politics, winning a race for Connecticut attorney general. Lieberman calls his six years in that post as ''some of the happiest and most satisfying of my life.''
Then came a fateful phone call from Senator John F. Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who later would be one of Lieberman's rivals for the vice presidential slot. It was 1988, and Kerry was the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Kerry had gone to Yale with Lieberman and had a proposal for his old school chum: Would Lieberman be interested in running for the US Senate against Weicker?
Lieberman most certainly was and launched a tough campaign. Acting on a suggestion from Lieberman, Eskew, the consultant, produced the ad portraying Weicker as a sleeping bear. That made the difference and Lieberman won by 10,000 votes.
Eskew, Gore's top media adviser, said he ''couldn't claim credit'' for persuading Gore to pick Lieberman, adding that he left a meeting with the vice president on Sunday night not knowing who would be picked. Asked what role he played in Gore's decision, Eskew said he is such a well-known Lieberman fan that ''I didn't have to communicate that to the vice president.''
Lieberman's 12-year Senate career sometimes defies classification.
He created a minor stir in 1995 as he was taking over the chairmanship of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council by saying policies that reward people based on race or gender are unfair. ''You can't defend policies that are based on group preferences as opposed to individual opportunity,'' Lieberman said. Subsequently, Lieberman supported a California ballot initiative that would prohibit racial preferences, but he also has resisted Republican-led attempts in the Senate to pare down affirmative action programs.
In 1991, Lieberman announced he would vote for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas after initial Senate hearings on his views. But after allegations that Thomas sexually harassed Anita Hill were aired, Lieberman changed sides and voted against confirmation.
On some major issues, he is at odds with the man who picked him for the ticket. Gore opposes the use of private school vouchers, while Lieberman has supported pilot projects for them. Many interest groups that dominate Democratic politics expressed support yesterday for Lieberman, though not without words of caution in some cases.
''We have enjoyed Senator Lieberman's support on a number of issues. School vouchers is not one of them,'' said Kathleen Lyons, the spokeswoman for the National Education Association. ''However, we are confident that Senator Lieberman will follow the lead of Vice President Gore on this issue.''
Lieberman has also offended organized labor at times because he, like Gore, supports free-trade bills that many unions oppose.
But in Hartford yesterday, Lieberman's first appearance after word leaked that he was Gore's choice was before an AFL-CIO meeting. And he was warmly received.
While Lieberman differs with Connecticut labor leaders on issues like vouchers and trade, Leo Canty, executive vice president of the Connecticut Federation of Education and Professional Employees, said, ''There's no question that his commitment to working people far exceeds that of Dick Cheney and George Bush.''
A hallmark of Lieberman's career is his ability alternately to collaborate with conservatives and liberals. For example, Lieberman has worked with former education secretary William Bennett to criticize what they call gratuitous Hollywood violence and sex, handing out ''Silver Sewer'' awards to ''cultural polluters.''
Lieberman's most famous moment on the Senate floor took place on Sept. 3, 1998, when he became the first Democratic senator publicly to condemn his old friend, Clinton, about an Oval Office affair with an intern. ''Such behavior is not only inappropriate, it is immoral and it is harmful,'' Lieberman said. He did not vote to convict the president on the impeachment charges, but his addition to the Democratic ticket sends a strong signal that Gore wants to distance himself from Clinton's actions.
Senator John Breaux, the Louisiana Democrat, said Lieberman would help attract independents. ''The ticket will be very competitive with mainstream, moderate voters,'' Breaux said.
It remains to be seen whether Lieberman's religion will help or hurt the Democratic ticket. Gore was already counting on winning two states with significant Jewish populations, New York and California. Lieberman's religion might also help in New Jersey and Florida, according to Lieberman's longtime friend, former Democratic National Committee chairman Steven Grossman. Bush is counting on winning Florida, where his brother, Jeb, is governor.
''Absolutely, this helps Gore in Florida,'' said Grossman, who is Jewish and plans to run for governor of Massachusetts in 2002. ''The turnout will be in record levels in the condo communities. If Florida is within 5 points, this could be a defining characteristic of the race.''
As an Orthodox Jew, Lieberman observes the Sabbath, which runs from Friday sundown to Saturday at sundown, by not working if possible. Typically, Lieberman spends the Sabbath with his family, walking to temple, attending services, praying and thinking. But he has occasionally voted in the Senate on Saturday when necessary.
''People have asked me repeatedly, `How can he perform an office like the vice presidency when he essentially doesn't work one day a week?' '' Grossman said. ''Well, he may not ride in a car, ride in a plane, or work at his desk, but so much about Joe Lieberman is he uses that day to think, to refresh himself, to be with his family. He is reminding us what the quality of life used to be in America.''
Joanna Weiss of the Globe Staff, reporting from Connecticut, contributed to this report. Kranish reported from Washington; Robinson from Boston.
