Centered: Joe Lieberman

Sen. Joe Lieberman was a Democrat, with both capital and small-case “D’s.” He was also a man of deep personal faith and an ardent supporter of the American military, who could often reach out to Republicans. In the year 2000, that made him a potentially game-changing running mate for presidential candidate Al Gore. However, in 2006, those same qualities made him a pariah within his own party. Yet, he remained the same man. Jonathan Gruber chronicles his career in Centered: Joe Lieberman, which will have special nationwide theatrical screenings this today and tomorrow.

Right from the start, Gruber and Lieberman’s family emphasize how his devoutly Jewish working-class parents gave him the faith and values that guided his career. He attended Yale and interned for Abraham Ribbicoff, who remains to this day, Connecticut’s first and only Jewish governor. Subsequently, a Yale Law student named Bill Clinton interned on Lieberman’s state senate campaign.

Thus, began a long, usually close alliance that threatened to fray when Lieberman publicly censured Clinton’s judgment and behavior with respects to the infamous White House intern scandal. That independence and integrity made him an attractive running mate. It also led to a close friendship and fruitful working-relationship with Republican Senator John McCain.

Frankly, the dramatic arc of Lieberman’s career sounds like the unlikely plot of an Allen Drury political thriller. Somehow, the Democratic Party’s 2000 Vice Presidential candidate lost his 2006 senate primary, only to come back and win the general election as an independent. Two years later, he endorsed the 2008 Republican Presidential candidate, McCain, who seriously considered him as his own running mate.

Oddly, Centered misses some opportunities to further burnish Lieberman’s independent credentials. While the film briefly discusses how Lieberman criticized the incumbent Republican Lowell Weicker during his initial U.S. Senate run “from the right,” he overlooks the vocal endorsement and financial support his candidacy received from conservative titan William F. Buckley. By any measure, Weicker was considered more liberal than most Democrats and took great pleasure in antagonizing conservatives. Buckley and other national conservatives recognized Lieberman’s more moderate stances on national security issues and his measured demeanor—and never regretted backing him.

Perhaps tellingly, the only Democratic political figures participating also happen to be from Connecticut or Lieberman’s various campaigns. On the other hand, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham (of South Carolina) and Amb. Cindy McCain (wife of the late Arizona Senator), discuss at length how the Democrat and his two Republican colleagues became the so-called “Three Amigos,” constantly visiting American military posts throughout the world, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, to get a first-hand understanding of the boots-on-the-ground reality.

Somewhat oddly (given recent events), Lieberman’s steadfast support for Israel receives little attention until late in the film. However, it serves as another illustration of Lieberman’s determination to elevate principle over party, when he passionately decries his former Senate colleague Chuck Schumer, for using the October 7^th terrorist atrocities to attack Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration in Israel.

For the record, Gruber also deserves credit for previously directing several excellent documentaries related to Israel, including Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story, profiling Bibi’s fallen war-hero brother, and Upheaval: The Journey of Menachem Begin, examining the life and times of the Prime Minister who made peace (more or less) with Egypt through the Camp David Accords.

In fact, students would learn a great deal of much needed history and political context from watching both documentaries along with Centered. However, that recommendation comes with the caveat that coverage of the 2000 Florida recount is distinctly one-sided, conspicuously favoring the Gore-Lieberman campaign. Yet, perhaps the most telling commentary on that election comes from the subject himself, when he blames Gore’s team for tacking too far to the left, in response to Ralph Nader’s third-party campaign.

Indeed, there is a lot of strong material in Centered, but it probably works best as an examination of what made Lieberman tick (primarily faith and family) than a definitive history of the times he helped shape. Arguably, the 77-minute running time feels a little too abbreviated (which is a rare criticism to apply to a documentary, of any subject matter).

Nevertheless, Gruber conclusively establishes Lieberman’s lasting impact on the American political landscape. He also makes a convincing case Lieberman’s modest temperament and abiding faith served as the foundations of his political success. Recommended as an informative and affectionate introduction to the man and his legacy, Centered: Joe Lieberman screens in theaters Today and tomorrow (3/18 and 3/19).