THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE VICE PRESIDENT; Gore and Lieberman Make Tolerance the Centerpiece

Determined to transform a potential liability into a defining asset, Vice President Al Gore today formally introduced Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut as his Democratic running mate and portrayed his selection of Mr. Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, as a measure of his devotion to tolerance and his willingness to break barriers.

In his remarks to thousands of supporters at War Memorial Plaza here, Mr. Gore compared his selection of Mr. Lieberman to his party's choice of John F. Kennedy as the first Roman Catholic presidential nominee 40 years ago.

''When we nominate Joe Lieberman for vice president, we will make history again,'' Mr. Gore said.

After word of Mr. Lieberman's selection leaked out on Monday, campaign aides and Democratic leaders made it clear that Mr. Gore had selected him despite his religion and any possible anti-Semitic backlash.

Today's event was remarkable for the forthrightness with which Mr. Gore, Mr. Lieberman and their wives addressed Mr. Lieberman's Jewishness as a topic not to avoid, but to celebrate.

From Mr. Lieberman's opening with a prayer from Chronicles to his wife's homage to her parents who survived the Holocaust to the senator's labored use of the word ''chutzpah,'' the Liebermans' faith provided the strategic and oratorical underpinnings of the day. [Excerpts, Page A16.]

Campaign aides even volunteered that the Gores and Liebermans shared a meal on Monday night that had been prepared by a kosher caterer. The intended message was that Mr. Gore, who has been characterized as an exceedingly tentative politician, had acted boldly in making the most important decision of his candidacy.

''Let's be very clear about this,'' Mr. Lieberman said. ''It isn't me, Joe Lieberman, who deserves credit and the congratulations for taking a bold step. It is Al Gore who broke this barrier in American history. And you know what it shows? It shows Al's faith in the tolerance of this diverse nation in the basic fairness of the American people.''

The talk of tolerance was directed partly at the suburban voters who were the focus of last week's efforts by Republicans to spotlight minorities. But it also was intended to comfort the Democratic base about the selection of Mr. Lieberman, who is conservative by party standards.

To that end, Mr. Lieberman told of a conversation that he had on Monday with the Rev. Jesse Jackson: ''He said to me, 'You know, Joe, each time a barrier falls for one person, the doors of opportunity open wider for every other American.' ''

Despite sweltering 97-degree heat that left Mr. Gore's drenched shirt stuck to his back (Mr. Lieberman wore an undershirt), the Democratic team got exactly the images of family and rectitude that it wanted out of today's event. Mr. Lieberman, who Democrats hope will help separate Mr. Gore from President Clinton's moral lapses, attested to Mr. Gore's devotion to his wife and children.

Tipper Gore spoke warmly of Mr. Lieberman's wife, Hadassah, and the two candidates, having removed their jackets, exchanged a mighty hug after Mr. Gore introduced his running mate. Mr. Lieberman, clearly having the time of his life, smiled giddily and pumped his fists as the crowd chanted, ''Joe, Joe, Joe.''

Mr. Lieberman, who spoke for 20 minutes, described the last 24 hours as ''a magical mystery tour.'' In his prayer, he thanked God for ''bringing me to this extraordinary moment in my life'' and thanked Mr. Gore ''for making this miracle possible for me and breaking this barrier for the rest of America forever.''

''You know,'' he added, ''there are some people who might actually call Al's selection of me an act of chutzpah.''

Mrs. Lieberman spoke touchingly of her parents, both of whom survived the Holocaust, and said she was moved to be speaking at a memorial that commemorates ''the American heroes, the soldiers who actually liberated my mother in Dachau and Auschwitz.'' (The War Memorial was built in 1925 to honor the 3,400 Tennesseans who died in World War I, the Tennessee Historical Commission said. Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army.)

''Whether you and your family immigrated from Europe, Africa, Mexico, Latin America or Asia, I am standing here for you,'' Mrs. Lieberman said. ''This person is our country. This land is your land and anything is possible for us.''

Before and after today's event, Mr. Lieberman, 58, spent time meeting campaign aides, receiving briefings on Mr. Gore's positions, working on the speech that he will deliver next week at the Democratic convention in Los Angeles and preparing for a multistate campaign swing that begins on Wednesday with a visit to Mr. Gore's hometown, Carthage, Tenn., and then to Stamford, Conn.

Mr. Lieberman said tonight that his faith would not stand in the way of his ability to serve the country, but he did say that he would not campaign on the Sabbath.

''When it comes to governmental responsibility, I've always felt -- and the rabbis have encouraged me in this and Jewish tradition does -- that when you have a responsibility to people that can protect or advance their well-being or their lives, then you've got to do it,'' he said on CNN's Larry King Live.

''The Sabbath is about respecting creation and honoring and protecting human life, then how could you let the specific prohibitions of the Sabbath stop you from doing that?'' the senator said. He said he had voted on the Sabbath, including his vote supporting the the Persian Gulf war.

Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, the Republican nominee, said in a statement today that he respected Mr. Lieberman ''for his convictions, his strong faith and his record on Social Security, missile defense and reforming our public schools.'' Those were pointed references to positions taken by Mr. Lieberman -- expressing interest in allowing workers to invest part of their payroll taxes in the markets, backing a missile defense system and supporting pilot programs allowing parents to use federal vouchers to pay private school tuition -- that are opposed by Mr. Gore.

''This selection,'' Mr. Bush said, ''now presents the vice president with an interesting test of whether he will continue attacking positions his running mate shares.''

Gore officials today distributed quotations and writings by Mr. Lieberman, including an unpublished article written in June, suggesting that he had moved away from his support for the partial privatization of Social Security because it posed unacceptable risks for retirees.

Mr. Lieberman used his speech today to shoot down the Bush campaign's suggestion that he had more in common with Mr. Bush than with Mr. Gore. ''With all due respect,'' he said, ''I think that's like saying that the veterinarian and the taxidermist are in the same business because either way you get your dog back.''

In the interview on CNN, Mr. Lieberman said that there were issues where he did not fully agree with Mr. Gore and that he would feel obligated to discuss those differences privately. But he said, ''when President Gore decides, Vice President Lieberman is with him 100 percent.''

For his part, Mr. Gore, 52, took pains to emphasize the positions on which he and Mr. Lieberman agreed. ''He believes, as I do,'' Mr. Gore said, ''that every family has a right to clean air and clean water. He believes, as I do, in that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.''

Neither Mr. Gore nor Mr. Lieberman mentioned President Clinton, though Mr. Lieberman said the Democratic ticket would ''help renew the moral center of this nation.''

Mr. Lieberman has long been considered one of the most moral voices in the Senate, and Democratic strategists say it is beneficial that he was one of the first in his party to strongly and publicly denounce Mr. Clinton's sexual relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky.

In an interview with Mr. Gore on Monday, parts of which were broadcast today, the NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw read portions of a speech in September 1998 in which Mr. Lieberman labeled Mr. Clinton's behavior inappropriate, immoral and harmful. Mr. Brokaw then asked Mr. Gore whether he agreed with Mr. Lieberman ''when he said that.''

''I did,'' Mr. Gore responded, ''and said so at the time, and I think most Americans agreed with that. I think that most Americans want to talk about the future of our country and want to focus on the choices that we have to make in this election and I think honestly, Tom, that most people are ready to move on.''

Mr. Clinton, he said, would play an active role in his campaign. But he added: ''I am running this campaign on my own with my own message and vision, and I welcome his help in support of that message and I expect I'll receive it.''