Lieberman to 'put America first'
Senator Joe Lieberman has said he will run for US president in 2004, telling pupils and parents at his old school that he will always "put America first".
The Connecticut Democrat, who becomes the first Jewish politician to compete for the Oval Office, said he is confident voters want "a strong US-Israel relationship".
"I am not running on my faith, but the fact is that my faith is at the centre of who I am, and I am not going to conceal that," he said.
“I will not hesitate to talk about faith when it is relevant or to invoke God’s name when it comes naturally out of me, because I think that is what America is about,” the 60-year-old added.
Kicking off his campaign, Al Gore’s former running mate from the 2000 election said the “American dream is in jeopardy”.
“Two years ago, we were promised a better America, but that promise has not been kept,” he charged.
Lieberman praised President George Bush for his war on terrorism, but faulted him on his domestic work.
Lieberman, who is generally considered more conservative than the other Democratic hopefuls, said the US needed a better plan than the 10-year stimulus package Bush announced a week ago.
Bush’s plan will “put America further into debt. You cannot keep doing that and keep America strong,” he said.
Lieberman was born and raised in Stamford, Connecticut, where his father Henry ran an off licence.
After graduating from secondary school in Stamford, he studied law at Yale University.
