ARTFORD - In the early 1970s, when Joe Lieberman was a young Connecticut legislator, a law clerk named Dick Blumenthal used to call him for advice. Like Lieberman, he was young and Jewish and fresh out of Yale Law School, and he wanted to know how to get involved in politics.
At the time, Lieberman's life was already worth studying, a sign of the changing ground rules for political success. In a state that has long bred candidates with serious pedigrees - including Senator Prescott Bush, the grandfather of Governor George W. Bush of Texas - Lieberman represented a different path: meritocracy.
The son of Eastern European immigrants of modest means, he lacked political connections, telegenic looks, or a populist's fiery speaking style. But he was already earning respect, and making political gains, by virtue of his brains and integrity, said Blumenthal, who is now attorney general of Connecticut.
''It really is the American dream that he has lived,'' Blumenthal said. ''He has the magic, and it really is almost a magic gift, for making people feel that anything is possible.''
In a political career that has spanned two decades - he was a state senator and attorney general, and spent the last 12 years in the US Senate - Lieberman has become one of Connecicut's most popular politicians.
Indeed, even state Republicans had praise for Lieberman yesterday, saying they admired his heartfelt stands and his independent streak. Robert Ward, the Republican House minority leader of the Connecticut Legislature, said the choice of Lieberman seemed an effort by the Gore campaign to ''buy integrity'' for the Democratic ticket.
Though he wasn't well known as a state senator, Ward said, Lieberman earned broad support from Connecticut voters as attorney general. He used the office as a political tool and a public soapbox, Ward said.
Lieberman also gained a reputation for acting independently, Ward said. State voters noticed when he skipped a state party convention to observe the Jewish Sabbath.
Still, Lieberman has never been quite as centrist as his reputation, Ward said - something Connecticut labor leaders agreed with wholeheartedly. Some said the fact that Lieberman appeared before an AFL-CIO convention proved the campaign's commitment to its liberal base.
''The Gore campaign is so committed to labor that they didn't want to miss this opportunity to make the announcement with us,'' said Leo Canty, executive vice president of the Connecticut Federation of Education and Professional Employees, who supports Lieberman despite disagreeing with him on vouchers and trade issues.
That liberal support is something Lieberman's Republican opponent for the Senate, Mayor Philip Giordano of Waterbury, said he will stress if Lieberman stays in his Senate race. Connecticut law allows Lieberman to run for both Senate and vice president simultaneously, if he chooses.
Giordano also told reporters he would criticize Lieberman for splitting his loyalties between Connecticut and the nation.
Canty said he thinks Lieberman will help the Democratic ticket. And because both Lieberman and Republican vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney are less-than-electric on the stump, Canty said, voters might wind up focusing on the issues, instead of the personalities.
''I think that may be a wonderful side effect'' of the vice presidential choices, Canty said. ''That would be the best thing that could ever happen.''
