Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman had no friends on a crowded stage Wednesday, assailed from the left and right for asserting he can be a force for change after 18 years in Washington....

In his closing remarks, Republican Alan Schlesinger teamed up with Democrat Ned Lamont to question how Lieberman would fare in "the real world" if he told his boss he couldn't fix something in 18 years.

"What do you think your boss is going to tell you?" Schlesinger asked Lieberman. Then Schlesinger turned to Lamont. "Ned, you're a businessman like me, what do we tell this guy?"

"It's time to go," Lamont replied.

"You're fired," Schlesinger said....

It was an uncomfortable format for Lieberman, 64, a three-term incumbent running as a petitioning candidate after losing the Democratic primary to Lamont, 52, a cable television entrepreneur.

Candidates were limited to 60-second answers, which Lieberman appeared to find confining.

CBS newsman Bob Schieffer, who as moderator firmly enforced the rules, frequently cut off the senator.

-HARTFORD — This time it was four against one.

The second debate Wednesday in the U.S. Senate race broadened to five candidates, with Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman the target for his support of the Iraq war, Connecticut’s dwindling share of homeland security funds and America’s continuing dependence on foreign oil....

Lieberman took a hit for the drop in homeland security money for Connecticut to $15 million, the lowest in New England on a per capita basis.

"Sen. Lieberman’s tenure on the Homeland Security Committee has not brought back results for the state of Connecticut," Lamont said.

Hartford — Once again, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and challenger Ned Lamont squared off in a debate Wednesday. And once again, all the good lines were stolen by the guy whose campaign was left for dead months ago, even in his own party — Republican Alan Schlesinger.

Schlesinger, running a more-than-distant third to Lieberman and Lamont in recent public opinion polls, reprised the animated, jesting style he had shown earlier in Wednesday's debate at the Bushnell in Hartford, which was taped for broadcast at 7 tonight by WFSB-Channel 3.

And most of his sharpest jabs — like those of the two other candidates, Ralph Ferrucci of the Green Party and Timothy Knibbs of the Concerned Citizens Party — were aimed at Lieberman.

“There is a base Republican vote, and the base Republican is a lot bigger than six [percent]. It tends to be in the low 30s. I understand it’s fractured this time because of Lieberman; but it’s fractured, not evaporated,” Schlesinger’s campaign manager Richard Foley said. Speaking in the first week of October, Foley put a lot of stock in voters’ reaction to the Oct. 16 and Oct 23 debates. Anticipating a bump after the debates, Schlesinger said national conservative groups pledged to pony up a substantial amount of money if he polls in the teens.

If that happens, Schlesinger could impact the election. With a three-way race, a candidate doesn’t need a majority to win. And since he’s competing with Lieberman for the state’s Republican votes, he doesn’t need to win or place to have a dramatic effect.

On the other hand, Salka said if the Lieberman were interested in voting with the GOP or even switching parties, “which would be understandable considering that most of the Democrats have turned their back on him,” the Republicans would be delighted and give him a plum committee assignment in return....

“Coming from Connecticut, it would be difficult for him to change into being a Republican,” Salka said. Then again, he added, “I don’t think he’ll serve much more than this next term, so it wouldn’t really hurt him.”