- (CNN) -- Sen. Joe Lieberman dropped out of the presidential
race Tuesday after poor showings in every state to hold a primary or caucus
so far.
-
- Speaking to supporters, Lieberman congratulated Sens.
John Kerry and John Edwards on their victories. CNN projects that Kerry
will win contests in Delaware, Missouri, Arizona and North Dakota, and
Edwards will win South Carolina.
-
- "But for me, it is now time to make a difficult
but realistic decision," Lieberman said.
-
- "After looking at the returns and speaking with
my family and campaign team, I have decided tonight to end my quest for
the presidency of the United States of America."
-
- Lieberman, a senator from Connecticut, had been expected
to compete well in Delaware on Tuesday, but with results in from nearly
all precincts, he had earned only 11 percent of the vote.
-
- He had skipped the Iowa caucuses to campaign for months
in New Hampshire, but ended up in fifth place in that state's primary.
-
- Lieberman was first introduced to millions of U.S. voters
as Al Gore's running mate in his unsuccessful presidential bid in 2000.
-
- Gore and Lieberman won the popular vote by a half-million
votes but conceded to Bush after a tumultuous 36-day recount in Florida
and a 5-4 Supreme Court vote against them.
-
- Lieberman did not announce his candidacy until after
Gore said he would not run. He was spurned by Gore in December, when his
former running mate endorsed former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean for president.
-
- Lieberman had positioned himself as a moderate Democrat
less susceptible than his rivals to Republican attacks on taxes, values
and issues.
-
- Although a centrist campaign was credited with putting
President Bill Clinton in the White House in the 1990s, the early appeal
of the left-leaning Dean caused some Democrats to question whether the
approach would work for Lieberman.
-
- Lieberman's campaign never found traction. He trailed
in polls and fund raising throughout the race.
-
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-
- http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/03/elec04.prez.lieberman/
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