Gore picks running mate

Al Gore needs to pick up points in the polls

Democratic presidential hopeful Al Gore is reported to have chosen Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman as his running mate in the race for the White House.

Sources said Mr Gore planned to offer Mr Lieberman the job in a telephone call later on Monday.

Lieberman: First Jewish vice-presidential candidate

If confirmed, Mr Lieberman, 58, would be the first Jewish candidate for the vice-presidency in American history.

Analysts say he could provide Mr Gore with ethical cover. He was one of the first congressional Democrats to berate President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Mr Gore is expected to make an official announcement on Tuesday, kicking off a week-long tour through the battleground states aimed at eroding Republican rival George W Bush's double-digit lead in opinion polls.

The decision comes a week ahead of the Democrats' national convention in Los Angeles.

Poll boost

Mr Lieberman, who has served in the Senate since 1988, has beaten three other senators to the job: John Kerry of Massachusetts; John Edwards of North Carolina; and Evan Bayh of Indiana.

Correspondents say Mr Gore is hoping that his selection, along with the convention which opens on 14 August, will give him the opinion poll boost he needs in order to build momentum for the White House.

At last week's Republican convention, Mr Bush named as his running mate the veteran former Defence Secretary Dick Cheney, a choice which pleased conservatives and may help counter charges that the Texas governor lacks foreign policy and Washington experience.