Lieberman joins race to challenge for White House

Joe Lieberman confirmed his presidential ambitions yesterday when he announced that he will be running for the White House in 2004 in order to create a "better America'.

The Democrat Senator and former running mate of Al Gore, the 2000 presidential candidate, had pledged not to run if Mr Gore chose to. Mr Gore announced last month that he would not run, prompting the Connecticut Senator to throw his cap in the ring.

Mr Lieberman said yesterday the nation could "renew the American dream ... if our leaders are ready to lead, willing to fight for what's right for the American people and able to rise above partisan politics to put our country first".

Promising to be a "different Democrat", Mr Lieberman, 60, said: "I'm ready to protect their security, to revive their economy and to uphold their values."

If elected, Mr Lieberman would be the first Jewish US president. When he ran with Mr Gore in 2000, it was the first time a Jewish candidate had been on a major-party presidential ticket.

During the campaign he introduced the habits of an Orthodox Jew to a wider audience by refusing to campaign on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath. He said yesterday: "I am not running on my faith, but my faith is at the centre of who I am, and I'm not going to conceal that.

"I think if the spirit moves me occasionally to say a word or two of faith, I think it's a very American thing to do."

Mr Lieberman, who probably sits a little to the right of centre of the Democratic Party, has long been an advocate of removing Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, and was heavily involved in homeland security and corporate accountability legislation. He is also a veteran campaigner against violent images in the media.

Mr Lieberman joins a crowded field of Democrats running for the White House. His running mates are Howard Dean, a former Vermont Governor, Dick Gephardt, a former Democratic House leader, Massachusetts senator John Kerry and John Edwards, a North Carolina senator.