and Entrepreneurship Caucus memberships Senate Caucus on Global Internet Freedom (Co-Chair) Congressional Fire Services Caucus (Co-Chair) Congressional Public Service Caucus (Co-Chair) International Conservation Caucus Presidential election involvement 2000 In August 2000, Lieberman was selected as the nominee for Vice President of the United States by Al Gore, the Democratic Party nominee for president. Among the last round candidates were U.S. senators Bob Graham, John Kerry and John Edwards. The nomination committee was headed by Warren Christopher. Lieberman was the first Jewish candidate on a major political party ticket. Of the vetting process, Lieberman related a conversation in which Christopher told him the background checks would be "like a medical procedure without an anesthesia." The Gore/Lieberman ticket won a plurality of the popular vote, with over half a million more votes than the Republican ticket of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, but they were defeated in the Electoral College by a vote of 271 to 266 after an intense legal battle concerning the outcome in disputed counties (see Bush v. Gore). The US Supreme Court ruled that the Florida Supreme Court's ordered recount was unconstitutional and said that it defers to what it believes is the Florida Supreme Court's judgment that December 12 is the deadline for all recounts—thus preventing a new recount from being ordered. Like Democratic VP candidates Lyndon B. Johnson in 1960, Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, John Edwards in 2004, and Joe Biden in 2008, Lieberman's Senate term was due to expire during the election cycle. He decided to run for re-election to maintain his seat, as Johnson, Bentsen and Biden did. Three won re-election to the Senate, but Johnson and Biden then gave up their Senate seats because they were also elected vice president. Edwards did not simultaneously run for re-election to the Senate. 2004 On January 13, 2003, Lieberman announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination as a candidate in the 2004 presidential election. Describing his presidential hopes, Lieberman opined that his historically hawkish stance would appeal to voters. Indeed, he initially led in polls of primaries, but due to his political positions he failed to win a support of liberal Democratic voters, who dominated the primaries. Prior to his defeat in New Hampshire, Lieberman declared that his campaign was picking up "Joementum"; however, he failed to provide such momentum during the New Hampshire primary debates, held at Saint Anselm College days before the