He called for Democratic candidates to introduce reforms to help eliminate poverty and provide the U.S. economy with a “fresh start.”

Lieberman also stressed the importance of education.

He said he was the first member of his family to attend college, and reiterated his support for the No Child Left Behind act.

A Yale graduate, Lieberman said he was wait-listed when he applied to Harvard.

In one of several light moments of his appearance, Lieberman thanked the audience, joking, “I’m glad I got in this time.”

He drew laughter earlier in the evening, when he quipped that he thought an audience member who inquired about the Democrats’ prospects in the wake of Sadaam’s capture was actually going to ask who Hussein would endorse.

After the stage lights went down, audience members were divided about whether Lieberman had distinguished himself from his fellow Democratic contenders—or in some cases, Bush.

“I would have liked to see him take a firmer stance on what qualified Sadaam as a threat to the U.S.,” said Ezra J. Rapoport ’06.

“I liked that he was pro-environment,” said Brian A Matthay ’04 in response to Lieberman’s stance on the Kyoto Accord. “I haven’t seen that with the other candidates.”

But IOP member Adam J. Scheuer ’06 pointed to a resemblance of Bush.

“His rhetoric seemed similar to that of Bush when he talked about seeing the war in terms of good and evil,” Scheuer said.

Lieberman’s “Hardball” appearance came after a long courtship. Matthews’ interview with Clark last week was to be the final in the series, which had brought seven of the Democratic contenders to the JFK Jr. Forum.

But Lieberman announced last Wednesday that the months of scheduling negotiations between his campaign and Hardball had finally succeeded.

—Staff writer Wendy D. Widman can be reached at widman@fas.harvard.edu.