But the real surprise came after the forum when Shays, seconding a position taken by Farrell months ago and, more recently, by U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"I think it's time for him to step down," Shays said, speaking to reporters.

"I can't work with the Department of Defense anymore," he declared, accusing Rumsfeld and subordinates of stonewallingcongressional committees charged with oversight of Iraq war policies.

Shays said Rumsfeld's resistance seemed to start after he returned from his 14th trip to Iraq in August and called for the United States to set a withdrawal timetable.

At a later campaign stop in Bridgeport, Farrell said Shays' call for Rumsfeld to step down is an example of the congressman trying to have it both ways on a controversial issue.

"He has followed me on so many issues," Farrell said. "I am certain the voters can see the real things. It's an election year conversion."

Earlier, Shays' statements about Rumsfeld came after Farrell reminded an audience of about 350 at the Stamford Marriott that she had already called for Rumsfeld's resignation and for Congress to vote "no confidence" in the Bush administration war policies. The forum was sponsored by several organizations, led by the Business Council of Southwestern Connecticut.

"The Congress has effectively abrogated its responsibility for checks and balances," the Westport Democrat contended, maintaining that the election is just as much about which party will control the House of Representatives, held by the GOP since 1994.

In the first of what will be 11 debates this month between the pair — a rematch of their tight contest two years ago — Farrell said critical letters from Shays to Bush administration officials don't match the impact a more vigilant Congress would have.

And she accused Shays of supporting a withdrawal timeline only after Lieberman — now running as an independent — lost the primary for the Democrats' Senate nomination Aug. 8 to Ned Lamont.

But Shays contended he has taken issue with the administration's Iraq policies regularly. Holding a thick book of printed correspondence, he pointed to a July 27 letter to Rumsfeld supporting U.S. withdrawal, absent greater Iraqi efforts to take responsibility for their own defense.

"It was before any [primary] election," he said. "I don't doubt your earnestness, Chris," Farrell retorted. "I do question your judgment."

Phil Maymin, a Moscow-born Greenwich businessman running for the 4th District seat on the Libertarian line, called for the United States to leave Iraq next July 4, but took a back seat to the main combatants. Maymin was included because debate sponsors felt he is running a credible campaign, unlike Green Party candidate Richard Duffee of Stamford.

Besides Iraq, the debaters fielded questions about the national debt, with Shays defending his vote to rein in entitlements, and Farrell saying the Iraq war is diverting the nation's resources from other pressing needs. Maymin said he would phase out entitlements altogether.

The debate Wednesday was foreshadowed by two new polls that indicate another tight race in the 4th District, one targeted by Democrats in their quest to gain 15 seats and retake the control of the House they lost in 1994.

A new Reuters/Zogby poll released Wednesday showed Farrell leading Shays among likely voters 46 percent to 41 percent, with 11 percent undecided and a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

A day earlier, a UConn poll done for The Advocate of Stamford and Greenwich Time found Shays leading 44 percent to 40 percent, with 16 percent undecided and a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The trio face off again at 7 p.m. tonight at Norwalk Community College in a debate hosted by several League of Women Voters chapters.