New Haven Independent

It’s true. Even though not a single act of terrorism on our soil has involved Mexicans crossing the Rio Grande to pick strawberries in Connecticut, Republican Alan Schlesinger (pictured) really did identify Mexican immigrants as the group to fear most, and to keep out of the country, in the interests of homeland security.

The remarkable exchange took place in the debate Monday night at New London’s Garde Theater as the campaign hurtles to its Nov. 7 finale.

The candidates’ clear differences emerged most strikingly when New London Day reporter Ted Mann asked Schlesinger how best to protect American against terrorism.

Schlesinger, alighting from his stool to stand on a carpet on the Garde stage as part of the debate’s casual format, launched right into a tough-on-immigration spiel.

“Of the three men before you I am the only man with a tough stand on immigration,” Schlesinger said. “… We don’t only let them in illegally. Many of our refugees get social security.”

His comments prompted an incredulous George Stephanopolous, the debate’s celebrity moderator, to interrupt. “Can you restate your question?”he asked Mann.

“The question is really focused more on terrorism…” Mann said.

Schlesinger was undaunted.

“When you talk about terrorism in our homeland, illegal immigration is the spearhead of that,” he said. “Joe wants to give them amnesty. Ned wants to give them scholarships. I want to give them the boot…
“That is where our main threat is coming. It’s coming from Mexico. People can come through with a dirty bomb…”

In their responses, neither Lamont, the Democratic candidate, nor incumbent Lieberman, the “Connecticut for Lieberman Party” candidate, noted that the 9-11 attacks were carried out by Middle Easterners here legally. Or that Timothy McVeigh lived right here. Or that not a single terrorist act has been traced to Mexican immigrants.

But Lamont and Lieberman did proceed with different ideas — different from Schlesinger’s, and different from each other’s.

“Islamic terrorists … are out to destroy our way of life and as many of us as we can,” Joe Lieberman (pictured after the debate) said. “We have to do everything we can to capture and kill them.” At the same time, the U.S. needs to work hard to win the Islamic world’s “hearts and minds.”

That’s why he doesn’t want to “pull out of Iraq” without a clear victory, Lieberman said — he worries that doing so would encourage terrorists. “I’ve traveled to just about Arab country except Iran” and learned the importance of this issue, Lieberman said.

When his turn came, Lamont (shown immediately after the debate) didn’t mention that Iran is not an Arab country. But he did characterize continuing the U.S. war in Iraq war as the problem, not the solution.

“Only Sen. Lieberman thinks having 140,000 of our brave troops stuck in a bloody civil war in Iraq is making America safer in dealing with terrorism,” Lamont said. “Every day we’re there, we’re making the situation worse.” Lamont quoted a recent National Intelligence Estimate that said “our presence there is making the situation worse,” feeding terrorism. “Every day we’re there, every day George Bush and Joe Lieberman say stay the course, the world is more dangerous.”

“We’re spending $2 to $3 billiion a week in Iraq,” Lamont noted. He said the U.S. could better use that money to screen ships coming through our ports. The big threat he sees takes the form of “one of those bombs coming into the Untied States through a container we’ve never seen.”

Who Speaks to Whom

Schlesinger scored the biggest spontaneous points when hecklers affiliated with cult figure Lyndon Larouche interrupted the debate by trying to drown out Lieberman. Lamont sat still on the stage while that happened. Schlesinger stood up and bellowed a demand that they shut up and show Lieberman respect. As in previous debates, Schlesinger was the loosest, and the funniest, of the candidates. (Lamont followed later, in his closing remarks, with a rebuke of the interruptions.)

During the debate, Lieberman resumed his strategy of seeking to ignore Republican Schlesinger — who, if he emerges from single digits in the polls, would presumably take votes from Lieberman. For instance, in discussing Iraq, Lieberman said, “I am not prepared to give up on Iraq. I am not prepared to fail. This is a big difference between Ned Lamont and me.”

Lamont aimed his fire at Lieberman. “Joe Lieberman’s and George Bush’s stay the course strategy is a recipe for failuire” in Iraq, he said. He scored Lieberman for inaction as the number of uninsured Americans has risen to 47 million.

For his part, Schlesinger chose which opponent to criticize based on the issue. On health care, he scored Lamont for talking about universal health care without discussing difficult choices about cutting costs.

“Ned,” Schlesinger said, “you’re just like holiday shopping. Everyone loves you until the bill comes in… . Until you start talking about costs, Ned, the problem will continue.” Schlesinger called for tort reform to drive down malpractice costs; and health savings accounts that forced citizens to pay more attention to the cost of their bills and allows them to deduct insurance from their income taxes.”

An Outside Issue, Not an Inside Issue

The Lamont campaign staged a spirited parade, complete with floats and music, to usher the candidate to New London’s Garde Theatre for the debate. The marchers focused on the campaign finance issue.

The issue dominated the campaign news cycle Monday, as the Lamont campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) charging that the Lieberman camp had violated the law by listing close to $400,000 spent during the 12-day run-up to the Aug. 8 Democratic primary as unspecified “petty cash.”

Lamont defeated Lieberman, a three-term incumbent, in that primary by 4 percentage points. Lieberman took out petitions to run as a “Connecticut for Lieberman” Party candidate on Nov. 7.

The Lieberman campaign dismissed the Lamont charges as “desperate” moves by a candidate down 17 points in the polls two weeks before election day. The campaign also refused to specify how the money was spent.

“We are in full compliance with FEC laws,” said Lieberman spokeswoman Tammy Sun (pictured). “We’re not going to go beyond the law make the journals [showing details of how the money was spent] available just because Ned Lamont has crazy conspiracy theories about vote-buying and thuggery.”

But on a day when the news in Iraq continued to worsen, Lamont had no plans to raise the FEC issue in the debate. Instead he focused on the central issues on which he and Lieberman disagree and on which voters believe their future security rests — such as terrorism and the war in Iraq.

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