Those looking toward how the fight will shape up in the remainder of the Democratic primary in the wake of Vice President Gore’s endorsement of Governor Dean could do worse than to take a look at what the man most jilted by this development, Senator Lieberman, had to say on NBC’s “Today Show” yesterday. First off, Mr. Lieberman, freshly stabbed in the back by his old friend Mr. Gore, displayed his grace. “I’m just going to tell you that I will always remain grateful to him for the extraordinary opportunity he gave me to run as his vice-presidential candidate,” he told Matt Lauer when the host tried to bait him into calling Mr. Gore disloyal.

It is this grace, in part, that separates Mr. Lieberman from the almost universally acclaimed front-runner, Dr. Dean, known for his acidity. The rest of the difference, however, is that Dr. Dean represents a hard turn to the left for the Democratic Party, a move that could reverse all of the progress that the party made when a Southern governor named William Clinton turned the party around in 1992. Apparently, that’s what Mr. Gore wants to do. “We need to remake the Democratic Party, we need to remake America,” Mr. Gore said at the Harlem announcement.

And just how do Messrs. Gore and Dean plan to do this? “He was the only major candidate who made the correct judgment about the Iraq war,” Mr. Gore said of Dr. Dean. Mr. Gore also praised Dr. Dean’s ability to mobilize support: “Whether it is inspiring enthusiasm at the grass roots and promising to remake the Democratic Party as a force for justice and progress and good in America, whether it is a domestic agenda that gets our nation back on track, or whether it is protecting us against terrorists and strengthening our nation in the world, I have come to the conclusion that one candidate clearly now stands out.” If Mr. Gore truly thinks that the rank-and-file of MoveOn.org, the radically liberal antiwar group, is the future of the Democratic Party, he is ready to consign himself and his colleagues in the party to permanent minority status.

Mr. Lieberman, however, was busy yesterday offering a different vision of the Democratic Party. “I premised my campaign on building on the transformation that Bill Clinton brought to the Democratic Party,” he said.”Strong on security, strong on defense, and pro-growth and for middle-class tax cuts.”Mr. Gore, he said, would have to explain why he “is endorsing somebody who has taken positions in this campaign that are diametrically opposite to what Al himself has said he believed in over the years.… Strong on defense, for tax cuts, and against walls of protectionism that take away jobs.”

Mr. Lieberman said that he thought Dr. Dean would take the Democratic Party, and the country, backward not forward. Opposing military action to remove a dangerous dictator, calling for the repeal of President Bush’s tax cuts, and calling for higher tariffs, Dr. Dean is certainly not a force for progress. It is now the battle between the Lieberman-Clinton wing of the Democratic Party and the Gore-Dean wing that will play out. General Wesley Clark can hardly challenge Dr. Dean, nor can any of the others in the pack. If Democrats want an antiwar tax raiser, they have their candidate. If they want a centrist, someone who understands that Saddam was an evil that had to fall and is willing to see the job through — and who understands that battle’s importance to the war on terrorism — they have a potential savior in Mr. Lieberman.