Lieberman thought their concerns were silly. It was only a few weeks into Vice President Al Gore's gutsy selection of Lieberman, an observant Jew, as his running mate, and he was visiting the Harley-Davidson factory in Kansas City, Mo. The campaign advance staff had rolled a Harley into the room so that photos and videos of any interviews would be prettier, the bike a shiny industrial backdrop.

But Lieberman walked into the room and, seeing the bike -- and knowing how much it would annoy his staff -- asked a Kansas City Star photographer whether he'd like Lieberman to get on the cycle for a photo.

The photographer naturally said yes. Lieberman obliged. His staff winced. Later, he offered to perch himself on the bike for even more shots. (The photographer again accepted.) Then, a Harley employee asked the two-term Connecticut senator if he wanted to get on his hog, grab onto his waist and take a spin around the block. Once again, to his staff's chagrin, Lieberman said yes, and went out for a spin.

"At this point," one staffer says, "it was clear to us that he was doing this for our benefit. He was teasing us." But they didn't say anything. Finally, hours later, Lieberman couldn't resist. "So?" he asked. "You haven't said anything about the motorcycle thing."

He is what he is: little Joey Lieberman from Stamford, Conn., the first Jew on a major party presidential ticket, a man seemingly at ease with himself, and a political candidate with infectious glee, having the time of his life on the campaign trail.

In an interview with Salon last week, Lieberman seemed to be relishing his new role even as he answered tough questions from his critics: Questions are coming in droves, because for every anecdote of a freewheeling Lieberman hopping on a motorcycle, there is a Republican countercharge that Lieberman, the independent Democratic senator, has sold himself out.

And the attacks have become much more personal. William Bennett, a former Bush secretary of Education, who used to join with Lieberman to bash Hollywood, giving out the "Silver Sewer" award to Tinseltown's worst, slamming gangsta-rappers and others on the "wrong" side of the cultural crusade, went on the attack last week.

Bennett had been heralding Lieberman's nomination until he read reports that Lieberman attended a $4.2 million Beverly Hills fundraiser with entertainment moguls. It was there that Lieberman seemed to extend an olive branch to the industry, saying, "It's true, from time to time we will have been -- and will be -- critics or noodges. But I promise you this, that we will never, never put the government in the position of telling you by law, through law, what to make. We will nudge you, but we will never become censors."

Bennett expressed his "disappointment" on the pages of the Wall Street Journal Friday, writing, "I had hoped that Al Gore would become more like my friend Joe Lieberman. Instead, it appears Joe Lieberman has become more, much more, like Al Gore. And for those of us who know and have admired Joe Lieberman, that is a sad thing to behold."

In an interview with Salon, Bennett's criticism of Lieberman escalated. Bennett was particularly offended by the jokes of "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David, who attended the fundraiser. During a monologue, David compared himself favorably to Gov. George W. Bush, saying that, "Like Bush, I, too, found Christ in my 40s. He came into my room one night, and I said: 'What? No call? You just pop in?'"

Bennett -- a thoroughly partisan Republican – says it was as though he'd never known his former cultural crusader.

"There were times when he was standing next to me that I thought he was Amos or Jeremiah," Bennett says. "Instead, we have 'Seinfeld.' -- you know, this modern, ironic, 'noodgy,' shrugging your shoulders, 'ha, ha,' 'whatever,' sophisticate approach."

Bennett says he's no longer sure Lieberman has the "deep commitment" to the moral cause that he once thought he did. It doesn't matter that Lieberman spoke at the Senate Commerce Committee a couple of weeks ago, slamming the entertainment industry after a Federal Trade Commission report claimed the industry markets inappropriate content to children. Lieberman, Bennett said, should have "walked out" after David's joke since it was "tawdry, cheap and ugly," making light of Bush's "personal relationship" with Jesus.

Bennett says he's been at "those same parties in Beverly Hills mansions with those rich sophisticates; they think they're superior because they have wealth and they're successful." Seeing Lieberman buddy up to these people was just too much, he says. "When we were working together, we were trying to shame the industry. Noodging and shaming are not the same thing."

When I ask if he's not afraid that his comments might hurt his friendship with Lieberman, he says, "Sure. To the degree that that friendship was based on shared values. But what the hell were we doing the last seven years? 'Noodging?' Jesus."

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