Chris Who?
Submitted by Jerid on Sat, 05/26/2007 - 7:02pm.
That's usually what I think of when someone mentions Chris Dodd's presidential aspirations. After today's Dodd house party in Laconia (middle of NH-ish), I'll be much more attentive when folks mention the good Senator from Connecticut's name.
Couple things I learned today about Senator Dodd this mornin': He wrote the Family Medical Leave Act (and he's currently working on a paid version of the FMLA with uber-conservative Alaska Senator Ted Stevens). Also, he's reached out to other conservatives on issues like children's health (Orrin Hatch) and genocide (Jessie Helms). Finally, he's one of the strongest progressive voices in the Senate (like Obama and Hillary, Dodd was one of the few Senators in the nation to vote against the watered down Iraqi Supplemental yesterday, and he's amazing on the stump regarding discrimination against homosexuals). Color me impressed.
I got off the phone a few minutes back with one of my Democratic friends in Ohio. When I told him about the Dodd house party he echoed a popular impression regarding the Senator's support, "How many folks were there - like three people?" Quite the contrary, Dodd packed the house.
All in all I counted well over 60 people in the tiny confines of the kitchen and living room. C-Span even showed up to capture the Senator's lively remarks (Aside: So far I've met two folks reporting for C-Span in my travels across the granite state - both doing freelance work. The guy on the right with the pinkish shirt was at the Dodd party on behalf of C-Span today. It astounds me how young, and how similar to the bloggers these people are. They usually have their own high end, yet compact, equipment and as one told me "it's easy to pick up work, about once a week corporate calls up and offers me an assignment.")
Dodd's remarks were interesting. For the most part, I'm getting my first impression of all the candidates. During Dodd's stump he hit on the Iraq war first (like most candidates) and energy policy second. However, unlike other candidates, that's where he stopped his scripted policy speech and opened the floor to questions. I think the limited scope of his stump is pretty effective - instead of a jumbled mess of policy, I was able to internalize what Chris is all about more clearly and concisely (Iraq - I'll save for another post, but he's all business about remaining committed to bringing America home as quickly, and safely, as possible; Energy - Corporate Carbon Tax, 50 MPG fule standards by 2017, Reduce Co2 by 80% by 2050, alt. energy development). Other candidates throw so much out that I leave meetings without being able to tell about what they're earnest and serious. Also, Dodd fielded questions regarding his stance on healthcare, plan of attack for winning the South, and homosexuality (and responded with well thought out, strong answers). Once again, color me impressed.
After Dodd left the building I had the opportunity to speak with his chief blogger, newly hired Matt Browner Hamlin. Matt's been around the block, hailing from CT's community site My Left Nutmeg, and having helped with the Lamont insurgency. Matt works directly with former Ohio blog extraordinaire Tim Tagaris, striking up a pretty powerful online team. And that hits precisely something that I've been astonished the online community hasn't picked up on yet.
This is a team that understands the Internet and is aggressively targeting it. Dodd's got some of the strongest online folks out there, he has an amazing technology presence (hell, they streamed the house party online this morning - even got up to close to 40 viewers. Pretty good for the early stages of the NH primary), and in my opinion they're seriously targeting those early Deaniac voters that found Howard through the Internet. As Matt put it, "this is a campaign bent on transparency. We know that the more people that meet Chris, the stronger his support will be. People love him once they know about him." Will it pay off? Will they influence the other campaign's online outreach. Who knows, but I'm paying attention.
The Window
Submitted by Ohio2nd on Sat, 05/26/2007 - 10:47pm.
Bloggers can only enhance what is, not create out of whole cloth.
Dodd's window of national relevance was back in the 80s. In the disastrous era of Bush he was a non entity. That makes him a non entity.
The time to be running for President was back in 02 and 03 and 04 and 05 and 06 and stand up as our national was being systematically dismantled. I saw little that I would count as courage coming from the Senate during those years. People afraid of looking weak are weak.
He brings no electoral significance and could only be seen as useful as a gravitas prop. Personally I'd rather he spend his time doing the job that we pay him good money for. The fact that they all treat the office of Senator as nothing more than a rung towards greatness is why we are so ineffective as leaders. When did the Democratic Party become little more than a crippled shell of meaningless rhetoric?
Dodd's window of national relevance was back in the 80s. In the disastrous era of Bush he was a non entity. That makes him a non entity.
The time to be running for President was back in 02 and 03 and 04 and 05 and 06 and stand up as our national was being systematically dismantled. I saw little that I would count as courage coming from the Senate during those years. People afraid of looking weak are weak.
He brings no electoral significance and could only be seen as useful as a gravitas prop. Personally I'd rather he spend his time doing the job that we pay him good money for. The fact that they all treat the office of Senator as nothing more than a rung towards greatness is why we are so ineffective as leaders. When did the Democratic Party become little more than a crippled shell of meaningless rhetoric?
Answer
Submitted by domestic goddess on Sun, 05/27/2007 - 6:57am.
Editor:
Ding, ding ding! The 80's. The Democratic Party was complacent, didn't pay attention to the republican message machine. It steamrolled over them but good. It also helps to buy up the mainstream media. Dodd has more cred than Kucinich or Biden and he has his own hair but that's not say much. I have no idea why he would chose to run now. He's in his sixties and been around a long time. I am so tired of all southerners all the time. I just want to hear from a real northeastern liberal for a while even if he doesn't have a chance. At least some of the real issues may be mentioned. But like Biden, he's too late.
Well, I like Dodd, but he's my second choice ...
Submitted by BruceMcF on Sun, 05/27/2007 - 11:21am.
And I reckon that'll be what kills him ... that he'll be the second choice for a number of people, but second choice to candidates considered first tier candidates is as good as last choice.
I've put him on my list every time
Submitted by Jill on Sun, 05/27/2007 - 12:05pm.
Because I don't particularly care what everyone is saying and, I'm not all that savvy, I just go by intuition and what I like. I lived in CT until I was 26, except for college, but going back there all the time, then, and now. Connecticut natives love Dodd, almost always have. My brother worked for him in the 80s and I met him a handful of times and he knows my folks, my dad did some fundraising for him years ago, often from the Jewish community (much as he had for Lieberman and several other Ct politicians). Dodd is menschy kind of person.
Is his time gone? Very possibly, in the traditional sense of time. But, seriously, what now is left of the traditional anything when it comes to politics and campaigning?
We talk all the time about how this very form in which I'm communicating right now is changing things. We want change? We want to eschew the traditional for these changes? Then let's not just talk about it, let's do that. If Dodd's still not "it," fine.
But if we see in someone things we like, I think we need to liberate ourselves from the idea that it's no longer their time or can never be their time again. It's one thing to pick up on trends and public sentiment. It's another to predict in such a way that others feel obligated to accept it as true, regardless of how else they might feel about someone.
People didn't want to give up on Hackett after he left the senate race, did they? People don't want to give up on Gore. People believe that Kucinich can win, even if others don't. If you like Dodd, go ahead and like him and see what happens. That's all I'm saying.
A Real Democrat