ASHINGTON - The summer of 1998 was painful for Senator Joseph I. Lieberman. News reports suggested he would call on President Clinton to resign for having an affair with an intern. Or, as Lieberman suggested, he might call for a Senate censure of the president.
But when the Connecticut Democrat took to the floor on Sept. 3, 1998, he delivered a speech that decried Clinton's ''immoral'' and ''embarrassing'' behavior but made clear he didn't want to remove or punish the president.
This week, with Lieberman's selection as the vice presidential candidate, the senator's condemnation of Clinton is being touted as a major reason Al Gore picked him. But the now-famous Lieberman speech may have had another effect: It might have saved Clinton's presidency.
''It is clear that because he said what he did, he was speaking for more than just himself,'' Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle said yesterday. While saying that he had no way of knowing how most senators would have acted, Daschle said, ''A lot of people felt that by giving that speech, they didn't need to go further than what he articulated on the floor.''
Lieberman's carefully calibrated speech is emblematic of his 12 years as a US senator. He is partial, quite literally, to a Talmudic form of decision-making, holding his thoughts in private, weighing all sides, and trying to come to a just decision. The result frustrates some Senate colleagues, who note that Lieberman, at times, has seemed to take both sides of issues such as private school vouchers, affirmative action, and Social Security privatization.
In retrospect, the speech about Clinton was classic Lieberman.
If Lieberman had called for the president's ouster, as some Democrats initially feared, it might have led to a domino effect among Democrats. Lieberman had known Clinton longer than most other senators, having enlisted the young Arkansan and fellow Yale University law school alumnus in 1970 to work in Lieberman's state Senate campaign. In 1995, Lieberman became chairman of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council, a post once filled by Clinton. Moreover, he was known as the ''conscience of the Senate,'' giving his views extra weight and legitimacy.
Before Lieberman appeared in the Senate chamber, he informed the president by telephone about the contents of the speech. The president did not try to talk Lieberman out of the condemnation. Instead, some Democratic officials now believe, the president was convinced Lieberman's speech would save his career.
''He agonized over the speech he gave in September 1998,'' said Steven Grossman, who was chairman of the Democratic National Committee at the time. ''Joe is extraordinarily meticulous about the way he contemplates a decision. It was a very painful, emotional, draining process he went through. He was about to criticize the president for standards of behavior. Joe's principles and values were at stake.''
Daschle said he urged Lieberman to allow the impeachment process to move forward before coming to any conclusion. That seemed fair to Lieberman, who said in his speech that it was too early to call for resignation.
Lanny Davis, a longtime friend of Lieberman who served as Clinton's White House counsel, said the senator's speech was, in the end, helpful to the president.
''I talked to him before he made that speech, and I talked to him after he made the speech,'' Davis said on CNN yesterday. ''And I am convinced today that he is in large part responsible for the ultimate acquittal of President Clinton, because by expressing the outrage, the moral outrage that he did and giving vent to those concerns, he was able to credibly make the distinction between the conduct that was not defensible and the performance in office, which surely still has a high approval of the American people.''
Davis could not be reached for additional comment.
Former federal prosecutor Joseph diGenova, a Republican who closely followed the impeachment, agreed that Lieberman could have created an unstoppable movement against Clinton.
''I think it would have been the end of the ballgame for the president,'' diGenova said.
Similarly, when it came time to decide whether to convict Clinton, Lieberman's ''not guilty'' vote helped pave the way for other Democrats to do the same. Lieberman suggested that even criminal activity by the president was not enough to force him out of office.
''The question before the Senate is whether the president's wrongdoing ... was more than reprehensible, more than harmful, and more than strictly criminal, but actually threatened our government and the national interest,'' Lieberman said, explaining his vote.
''After reflection and review of the evidence, the meaning of the term high crimes and misdemeanors and, most important, what I believe to be the best interests of the nation, I have concluded the facts don't meet the high standard the founders set and cannot justify removing the president from office.''
Yesterday, many Republicans praised Lieberman as a moral and moderate man who agrees with George W. Bush on key issues. But some Republicans still remember that Lieberman switched sides on the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court in 1991. After initially supporting Thomas, Lieberman changed his mind after hearing the allegation that Thomas sexually harassed Anita Hill.
''I just wrestled with it all day. I decided that I had too many doubts and that it was better when you're dealing with the Supreme Court to err on the side of caution,'' Lieberman said in 1991, explaining he was undecided until 15 minutes before the Thomas vote.
Now, according to diGenova, some Republicans will wonder why Lieberman didn't call for a stronger penalty against Clinton considering that Thomas denied the allegation against him, while the president acknowledged an affair with intern Monica S. Lewinsky.
DiGenova, a Thomas supporter, said he still doesn't know what Lieberman meant by ''err on the side of caution.''
''In light of Monica Lewinsky, perhaps Joe would have voted the other way on Thomas,'' diGenova said.
Clinton, meanwhile, sounds like one of the senator's admirers. ''I'm very happy about Joe Lieberman,'' Clinton said Monday after hearing about the vice presidential choice. ''He's been great for America.''
