Rebecca Lieberman graduated from Barnard College in 1991, and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1997. She is a former co-director of the Public Policy and Client Advocacy division of the Children’s Aid Society in New York City. In this position, she launched an initiative to enroll children and families in public health insurance, and an economic empowerment program focused on teaching low-income families the basics of money management. In February she became CEO of The Democracy Compact, a new national non-partisan organization devoted to re-engaging Americans in the democratic process. The organization, started in Rhode Island during the last election cycle, develops citizen leaders to promote a stronger democracy, conducts non-partisan Get Out the Vote campaigns, coordinates youth education and participation programs, and designs and promotes policies to improve the election process. In August 2000 Lieberman volunteered to work on the Democratic campaign of Vice President Al Gore and her father, Senator Joe Lieberman, for the presidency and vice presidency of the United States. During a recent conversation in New York City she shared some reflections on the campaign experience with the Penn Law Journal.

The Selection

On Sunday August 7th, I was on Cape Cod with friends who didn’t know how seriously my dad was being considered as the vice presidential nominee to the Democratic ticket (and who didn’t have a TV!). I called my brother Matt in New Haven to see if there was any news. He told me the media was camped out in front of the house. I could hear the excitement and tension in his voice, and I was about to jump out of my skin. Whatever happened I was ready, having packed two suits just in case my dad was picked and I had to get to Nashville in a hurry. Matt and I had decided that we would campaign full-time if our father were chosen. We knew it would be an opportunity not to pass up. On Sunday night I reached my dad only to learn there was no news. First thing Monday morning my dad called. Al Gore had picked him to join the ticket. I was elated. All fears about what this might do to my family were replaced by an overwhelming sense of pride.

The Announcement

I arrived in Nashville and was met by the first of many enthusiastic and dedicated strangers – the campaign workers. I was pinned with credentials that identified me to the Secret Service as someone who could safely approach my father and the Vice President. We were officially in the “bubble.” The next day I rode in my first motorcade - a giddy experience. We arrived at the War Memorial and “held” (campaign-speak for ‘waited’), until the last possible moment to take our seats outside in the stunning heat. Hadassah (Lieberman, my stepmother) spoke to the immense crowd, sharing her story as the child of Holocaust survivors and giving voice to the struggles and triumphs of all immigrants. Looking around at my siblings, I registered that we were all struggling to hold back our tears. Then my dad stepped up to the microphone. Seeing him there, with Al Gore and Tipper, and Hadassah standing before a cheering crowd made up of all ages, religions, races, and ancestries, was overwhelming, almost numbing. As was frequently the case over those five months, it was impossible to process the enormity of what was happening at the time.