Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman met with area Arab-American leaders yesterday, albeit in a multi-ethnic group of civic leaders.

It wasn’t what Tony George, a prominent Democratic fund- raiser, wanted. But he said he left satisfied that Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, would not be biased against Arab nations as vice president.

“When he got to Mary Rose [Oakar] and myself, he spent enough time to discuss the issues important to us,” George said. “And he promised the next time he comes to town, to spend a lot more time with us.”

George had demanded a meeting to clarify whether Lieberman supported moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israel’s capital. George would not discuss the conversation but was content.

“I walked away a happy camper,” he said.

The embassy’s potential move is important because it would, for all purposes, validate Jerusalem as the Jewish homeland’s capital. Palestinians seek control over east Jerusalem. Though he has supported such a move, Lieberman now is taking a wait-and-see position regarding Mid-east talks.

Republican George W. Bush is for such a move, said Bob Hopkins, a Texas-based spokesman

Ohio has about 135,000 Arab- Americans and 145.000 Jews.

Moments after meeting with George, Lieberman strode into a sweltering gym at Warrensville Heights High School and continued the wooing of Ohio.

“If the Gore-Lieberman ticket carries Ohio, that’s it, folks -the other side doesn’t have a chance,” he said to cheers from more than 1,000 supporters. “I’m not trying to put pressure on you, but the future of America is on your shoulders.”

Lieberman’s Ohio trip - without Al Gore - came amid release of a poll that shows Texas Gov. Bush’s lead has narrowed to four points in Ohio.

“I think most people felt not too long ago that Al Gore and I had little or no chance here, and this is effectively a dead heat, " Lieberman Columbus-area fund-raiser. “We’re going to invest a lot of time and effort in this state. We think it’s critical to the outcome of the election.”

That effort yesterday drew about $700,000 statewide. At Landerhaven Country Club in Pepper Pike, 75 people turned out for a $1,000 per-person fund- raiser. At the house of Ron Ratner in Shaker Heights, 25 people attended a $10.000 fund-raiser.

This summer, Bush raised $2 million on a one-day Cleveland stop. Last night at the Ratners, Lieberman said, “I don’t think we’re going to catch the other side in fund raising, but I think we’ll be competitive.”

According to the recent Ohio Poll of likely voters, Bush was favored by 47 percent, while 43 percent said they intend to vote for Gore. The phone survey was conducted by the University of Cincinnati’s Institute for Policy Research.

The poll shows Bush leading in most of the state, although Gore has a three-point lead in the Cleveland area, home to the largest block of Democratic voters.

Bush’s lead has narrowed since April, when the Ohio Poll showed him up by eight points. “We always expected the race to be very close,” Hopkins said.

Lieberman spent his morning and afternoon in Columbus, where he toured Ohio State University’s hospital and met with people who recounted problems with HMOs.

Carrie Foster told Lieberman of her seven-year legal fight to force her insurance company to pay for hospitalization her doctor had ordered. The doctor properly diagnosed a bone disorder only after the HMO had sent her to 18 doctors in 19 months, she said.

“Many people have had experiences with HMOs that nearly destroyed their lives,” she said. “I’m one of them.”

Lieberman used her story, and others, to make the case that the Gore-Lieberman patient- protection plan is superior to the plan offered by their GOP rivals.

“This shouldn’t happen in our country, and it won’t happen if we have our way and pass a patient bill of rights,” he said.

The OSU trip was followed by a high-dollar fund-raiser that netted $350,000 for the Democratic National Committee. Held at the home of Jon and Susan Diamond in Bexley, the event was attended mostly by stalwarts of Columbus’ Jewish community.

Lieberman, the first Jew ever nominated for vice president by a major political party, told of his pride in being chosen.

“In this, Al touched the best in America,” he said.

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