{news} CT "Five-way Senate debate?"

[Green Party-CT]

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-debates.9.11forgtsep11,0,6667686.story?track=rss 
  Five-way Senate debate?  Independent candidacy shake up debate situation                By Brian Lockhart
Staff Writer

September 11, 2006

Ralph Ferrucci, the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, admits he was shocked when longtime incumbent Joseph Lieberman invited him to debate.

"A lot of times the two parties don't want to include anybody, and the incumbent doesn't want to debate at all," Ferrucci said.

Things have changed since Lieberman's last election in 2000, when he also was crisscrossing the country as the Democratic vice presidential candidate. Then, Lieberman refused to debate his Republican Senate opponent Philip Giordano and handily won a third term to the Senate.

But last month, Lieberman lost his party's primary to Ned Lamont of Greenwich. Now the 18-year incumbent is a petition candidate running under his newly created party, Connecticut for Lieberman.

Although he and Lamont are far ahead in the polls, Lieberman extended invitations to debate planning sessions to all four of his opponents, including Republican Alan Schlesinger, who is drawing single-digit support, and Concerned Citizens nominee Timothy Knibbs.

Knibbs said he was not surprised.

"I was expecting to be contacted because of Lieberman's status and with a Republican polling so low," he said. "He probably wouldn't be doing any debates if he was the Democratic nominee."

Lieberman spokeswoman, Tammy Sun, said the campaign did not think it was appropriate to exclude any party because Lieberman now is an independent candidate.

"We look forward to lively and productive debates this fall that will inform voters about which candidates can work most effectively in Washington to produce tangible results for the state," Sun said.

Professor John Orman, a political science professor at Fairfield University, and University of Connecticut pollster Chris Barnes said Lieberman's move is strategic.

"Normally debates would be Schlesinger versus Lamont. Those are the kinds of debates we've had in Connecticut for 40 years," Orman said. "He's saying, 'I'm going to be there.' "

Barnes said having four opponents in a debate allows Lieberman to try to cast himself as the "middle of the road" candidate. Lieberman describes himself as an "independent Democrat" willing to reach across party lines.

Barnes and Orman doubt that all of the debates, still unscheduled, will include the five candidates.

"I don't know who's going to take him up on that," Orman said. "It will be a crowded stage."

Liz Dupont-Diehl, Lamont's director of communications, said some of the debates will include all five candidates and some will have fewer.

"We think the minor parties have a right to be included," Dupont-Diehl said. "We're also interested in giving the public a meaningful opportunity to hear a good, honest discussion."

Representatives of four of the campaigns met at the Hartford Hilton on Friday to begin talks. Knibbs said a miscommunication left him out but he intends to participate. Another meeting has been scheduled for next week.

Details were unclear last week. Schlesinger said he believes two are tentatively scheduled and two more are possible.

"I'm not against debating Lamont. Just me and Lamont.," Schlesinger said. "I would not go along with all of them being five-way. It becomes a circus."

Some of Schlesinger's support has been eroded by Lieberman's petition candidacy. Under some debate criteria, Schlesinger could be excluded.

Last week, for example, U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Bridgeport, agreed to participate in 11 debates with Democrat Diane Farrell and Libertarian Phil Maymin. But Maymin said he was not invited to the Oct. 16 event in Bridgeport, sponsored by AARP Connecticut, because the organization does not expect him to get at least 5 percent of the vote in November.

A Quinnipiac University poll released in mid-August showed Schlesinger winning 4 percent of the vote in a race against Lamont and Lieberman. Giordano was garnering 19 percent of the vote when Lieberman turned him down in 2000.

AARP Connecticut spokeswoman Suzan Bibisi said Friday the group is considering hosting a Senate debate. If it occurs, Schlesinger would be included because he is a major party candidate, Bibisi said.

Jara Burnett, co-president of the League of Women Voters, which commonly hosts debates, said that group is to meet Friday to determine who to invite. In the past, the league has been cautious about including minor party candidates in Senate debates, she said.

"We're struggling with that ourselves," Burnett said. "Senator Lieberman is waging a vigorous campaign, he gets a lot of support statewide, so from all the considerations he's a shoo-in."

One of the league's criteria is that a candidate have financial support from a broad-based constituency.

Lieberman and Lamont have collected and spent millions on primary campaigns. Schlesinger raised $113,581, including $70,000 of his own money, and recently admitted to having spent most of it on ads. His low poll numbers are making it challenging to obtain donations, Schlesinger has said.

"On the other hand, we are basically a two-party system and a lot is riding on the fact that Mr. Schlesinger is a major party candidate," Burnett said.

Schlesinger is banking on his debate appearances to recapture much of the Republican vote.

"I'm sitting next to Jodi Rell on the ballot. I'm told I have 20 percent going in, no matter what," Schlesinger said of the positioning of his name next to the governor's in the voting booths.

Barnes said he would not expect Lieberman to agree to an offer to debate only Lamont.

"He doesn't want to offend Republicans right now," Barnes said.   Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. 
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