WASHINGTON -- Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut is Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore's choice for vice president. The choice is a masterful one. Lieberman brings several big pluses to Gore's candidacy:

* He separates Gore from President Bill Clinton cleanly and effectively. It was Lieberman who spoke up last September to scold the president for his indiscretions with Monica Lewinsky. Despite his decades-long closeness to Clinton, Lieberman broke the ice and made it practical for other Democrats to express their concerns about the president.

* He is a deeply religious Jew, with strong personal views on issues of morality -- sort of the Democrats answer to the religious right.