erhaps some conservative writers and talk show hosts were sincere when they said that if Al Gore picks US Senator John F. Kerry as his running mate, that would be bad news for the Republicans.
Or perhaps they weren't. Perhaps they were engaging in a bit of Br'er Rabbit strategy. In the Walt Disney classic ''Song of the South,'' Br'er Rabbit, desperate to disappear into the briar patch, pleaded with the fox not to throw him in it - knowing full well the contrary fox would ignore his pleas. After landing in the patch, the laughing rabbit waved to the fox and thanked him.
But if the conservatives were employing the Br'er Rabbit strategy, Gore did not fall for it. He passed up Kerry for Senator Joseph Lieberman, who appears to be an even stronger choice.
Lieberman, who would become the first Jewish vice presidential candidate for a major party in American history, has already done for Gore what Kerry could not do as a running mate. Because Lieberman was the first Democratic senator to denounce President Clinton's behavior with Monica Lewinsky as ''immoral,'' his presence on the ticket separates Gore from the Clinton scandal. Thus, the GOP is denied the weapon it has been trying to use against Gore from the start of the campaign.
At the same time, Lieberman, as chair of the centrist-oriented Democratic Leadership Council that both Clinton and Gore support, brings a moderate to conservative tone to the ticket that may attract swing voters who may have been leaning to Bush.
So far, the Bush campaign has issued no negative comments about Lieberman, largely because there's very little for them to be negative about. The only thing the Republicans have said publicly thus far is that Lieberman's voting record is more like Bush's than Gore's.
But in reality, Lieberman's record is far closer to Gore's, particularly on labor issues such as the Democrats' proposed increase in the minimum wage and other such measures supported by organized labor and most Democrats.
As a more centrist candidate than even Gore or Clinton, Lieberman is also expected by some political analysts to help Gore win a number of states, from Pennsylvania through the Midwest, that were leaning toward Bush a few weeks ago.
Before Gore picked Lieberman, there were serious concerns among Democrats that Gore could lose New York and Hillary Clinton would lose her Senate bid there to challenger Rick Lazio.
The Jewish population in New York has thus far been viewed as lukewarm to Gore and the First Lady. But with Lieberman on the ticket, Democrats have sensed a new energy and optimism about the New York vote.
There is also a feeling among African-American political activists that having Lieberman on the ticket will bring more black voters to the polls, because Gore has reached out to someone whose background is uncommon in presidential politics. More than a few will view this as progress toward one day having an African-American on the ticket.
Some Democrats worry that Lieberman - who helped blacks register to vote in the 1960s, during the civil rights movement - will be more of a liability than an asset in Gore's efforts to win some Southern states from Bush. They suggest that in the Bible-belt Baptist states, there will be no strong support for a Democratic ticket that includes an Orthodox Jew, even if the presidential candidate is from the South. But recent events suggest that the Gore-Lieberman ticket has a chance of winning at least one or two Southern states.
Gore and Lieberman said at a rally in Atlanta that they will make a strong effort in the region. Backing up that statement were five Democratic governors in the South who appeared on stage. They included Roy Barnes of Georgia, Jim Hunt of North Carolina, Don Siegelman of Alabama, and Paul Patton of Kentucky.
Some Democrats privately expressed concern that there would be a voter backlash against Gore for having a Jew on the Democratic ticket. But most political analysts see Lieberman as much more of a plus than a minus. As some analysts point out, some of the people who say they will vote against Gore because of Lieberman would vote against Gore if Lieberman were not on the ticket.
Many voters will see Gore's selection of Lieberman as evidence that he's willing to make a bold choice. And that bold choice is shaping up to be a wise one. Not only has Gore's choice helped him to grow as a candidate, it has also helped America to grow in the eyes of the world.
And that's why picking Lieberman in August has increased rather than diminished Gore's chances of winning the White House in November.
Robert A. Jordan is a Globe columnist.
