Appearing before about 200 Hispanics Wednesday, Lieberman quickly won the crowd over with a story about how he and California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a friend, one night mused that they could combine their respective ethnic cuisines and open a restaurant.

"As we passed the time, we started to think up dishes," the vice presidential candidate said to howling laughter. "One was matzoh menudo, and one other I remember is gefilte fish ceviche."

Diana Contreras, 46, a secretary from Union City, Calif., practically doubled over laughing. "He's so funny. I feel like I know him. I'd seen him before, but I never met him. I was very impressed," she said.

Wherever he goes, whenever he campaigns, Lieberman -- known as the sober centrist who chastised President Clinton for "embarrassing" the country -- tries to connect with people in much the same way a lot of other famous Jewish Americans have, with humor.

And while he's no Jackie Mason or Jerry Seinfeld, Lieberman loves to expose his funny bone. He often makes a face, opening his mouth wide with a smile that says this is the punch line.

Talking to a group of more than 100 gays and lesbians at a caucus meeting Wednesday, he mimicked his parents: "When I went into politics, my parents said, 'You can a making a living from this?"' The accent was pure East Coast Jewish.

Later, he welcomed running mate Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, to Los Angeles, before a crowd at the Burbank Airport by playing off a famous line from Ronald Reagan.

"I've been waiting for a week to say this and I can't control myself anymore. In this election, will you help me win this one for the Tipper?"

And when he and Gore met with hometown supporters from Connecticut and Tennessee at the Warner Brothers Studios, he reminded the crowd that the television show, "The West Wing" -- the fictionalized White House drama -- is filmed there.

"Did you know that?" he asked, warming them up for the punch line. "If you and I work hard, the closest George Bush will get to the west wing is the remote control!" Lieberman said, again to laughter.