CT-Sen: The immigration factor

It's early in the process, but I haven't heard anyone highlight the significance of this moment in today's debate.

Republican Alan Schlesinger, who was surprisingly impressive in the debate, made a clear distinction between himself and his two opponents on the immigration issue:

Schlesinger set himself apart from both Lieberman and Lamont on issues like immigration. "Joe favors amnesty... Ned Lamont he actually wants to give them scholarships," Schlesinger said. "Alan Schlesigner is the only one on this stage who has a tough policy. I want to build the walls. I want to make sure there is no road to residency. I am the son of a legal immigrant. There are people today who attempted to come here as legal immigrants and died.  Now we've got people flooding into this nation for no other reason than they want a better life for themselves. ... We have to secure the borders... "We have to use drones. "

Now why is this important?

There's no doubt that immigration has salience this election cycle. And while Lieberman has been trying to muddy the waters on any point of contention between himself and Republican voters, he didn't do so in this case.

So this issue gives anti-immigration Republican voters a reason to come home to Schlesinger.

But here's an important second point -- the immigration issue also has a great deal of salience with another key Lieberman demographic -- white, ethnic, blue collar workers. That demographic can be as anti-immigration as the craziest wingnuts.

So ironic as it might be, the fact that Lieberman took a sane and correct position on the immigration debate may very well cost him with the two demographics that he most needs to win the election.