"Did you know I'm running for president of the United States?" Lieberman asked a predominantly black class of preschoolers as he toured an early childhood development center Wednesday. "One day I bet one of you could be president."

The tiny group of parents - outnumbered by Lieberman's campaign staff, reporters and cameramen - also seemed a bit more star-struck by the White House hopeful.

Giant lights and sound equipment towered the toys and games in the classroom at Pineview Learning Center as camera shutters clicked with each gesture of the Connecticut senator.

"Single parents are some of the great heroes in our society today because they are working so hard to keep their families going forward," Lieberman said.

That's why the candidate said he wanted to expand the federal Head Start program like the one at Pineview for young, poor children, and to give more funding to child care, job training, and transportation.

Lieberman said education cuts made to programs such as Head Start, the freezing of Pell grants and underfunding federal education reforms are examples of why the American people are losing confidence in Bush.

"He promised a lot of things and he hasn't delivered on them. He promised prosperity. What did we get? We got more poverty," Lieberman said.

Even though a bid as Al Gore's vice presidential running mate in 2000 has left him with one of the most recognizable names in the field of nine Democratic candidate, Lieberman has watched his numbers slip in the polls.

Aides want Lieberman to focus his time and money on the Feb. 3 primaries in mostly Southern states such as South Carolina, where the Connecticut senator has slipped into second behind Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

Lieberman may want to focus his new campaign plan in South Carolina because the state's Democrats tend to be more conservative, Clemson University political scientist Robert Smith said.

"What better place to reassert his place at the head of the pack of candidates than South Carolina, where South Carolinians may be more responsive to his message," Smith said.

But Luke Byars, executive director of the state Republican Party, said Lieberman's moderate philosophy and support of the war in Iraq have hurt his campaign.

"Senator Lieberman has been identified as someone who liberal Democrats don't really identify themselves with," Byars said.

Sara Bowen, 76, who stopped by the neighborhood center to meet Lieberman, had never heard anything about him. Candidates usually have to knock on her door or send her information in the mail to earn her vote, she said.

But after Bowen quizzed the senator about health care, prescription drugs for senior and education, she was ready to join his campaign. She sang little "Amens" and nodded her head in agreement as he finished talking to the group.

James Bostic, 27, a single father of a 4-year-old boy at the center, said wanted to hear about Lieberman's plan to restructure the income tax code, raising rates for the wealthy while cutting them for the middle class.

Lieberman said George Bush's bad economic policy has forced country to make tough choices.

"If you push through tax cuts that give literally hundreds of billions of dollars to people making enormous sums of money, you're not left with the money to protect our security and to make life better here at home," he said of Bush's tax cuts.

One parent in the group had tough questions about the war on terrorism for Lieberman, who said he would support Bush's $87 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan.

"In the war against terrorism, we have to do whatever we can to capture or kill, if necessary, terrorists," he said.

"What about the people here who need help?" interrupted Kim Navy, 26, of Columbia. "I just don't agree in war. I don't see any purpose in sending people over there to get back at someone for killing our people."

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