October 11, 2004: Headlines: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Election2004 - Dodd: Hartford Courant: Dodd's Debate comments were dismissals, not rebuttals, delivered with just enough indignation to defend his honor, but not enough force to suggest they took much effort
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October 11, 2004: Headlines: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Election2004 - Dodd: Hartford Courant: Dodd's Debate comments were dismissals, not rebuttals, delivered with just enough indignation to defend his honor, but not enough force to suggest they took much effort
Dodd's Debate comments were dismissals, not rebuttals, delivered with just enough indignation to defend his honor, but not enough force to suggest they took much effort
Dodd's Debate comments were dismissals, not rebuttals, delivered with just enough indignation to defend his honor, but not enough force to suggest they took much effort
Dodd Has Edge In Senate Race Debate
Opponents Target His Years In Washington
October 11, 2004
By JACK DOLAN, Courant Staff Writer
Caption: MAKING HIS POINT, incumbent Democrat Christopher J. Dodd, left, answers a question during a televised debate featuring Connecticut's U.S. Senate candidates. GOP challenger Jack Orchulli of Darien listens.
(AP)
U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd faced his challengers for the first time Sunday night at the taping of a Connecticut Public Television debate, and his four-term advantage was obvious before anyone said a word.
While Republican Jack Orchulli of Darien - a retired millionaire running for his first office - bounced and exhaled anxiously waiting to face the camera, Dodd remained calm. When Concerned Citizens Party candidate Timothy Knibbs gestured wildly during his opening remarks, Dodd, who was standing about a foot away, dodged the flailing arms so subtly that not a hair moved on his perfectly coifed head.
Even a detractor would have to admit that Dodd's performance Sunday was impressive to watch, but it also gave them fodder for the argument that Connecticut's senior senator has been at the political game too long.
That issue is the primary focus of Orchulli's campaign. He began his remarks by noting that Dodd has been in Congress for 30 years, then answered almost every question with a variation on the theme that Dodd has become too complacent and has accomplished too little during his tenure.
While responding to the first question about the effort to keep New London's submarine base from closing, Orchulli accused Dodd of doing too little to protect Sikorsky against a foreign firm competing to build Marine One, the President's helicopter.
"Can you imagine the President flying around in a foreign-built helicopter? What kind of message does that send?" Orchulli asked.
When the next question turned to plans for eventually withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, Orchulli worked in an accusation that Dodd has repeatedly voted against pay raises for soldiers, while voting recently to raise senators' salaries.
By contrast, the debate was nearly half over before Dodd even acknowledged his opponents' presence, and only then to say the president decides who builds his helicopter. He suggested Orchulli was wrong and should check his facts more closely before talking about the payroll votes.
Dodd's comments were dismissals, not rebuttals, delivered with just enough indignation to defend his honor, but not enough force to suggest they took much effort.
In many ways, the debate mirrored the campaign that has been playing out in mostly upbeat television ads that started playing across the state in mid-September, which tend to focus on the big picture, and avoid specific policy debates.
Orchulli's ads say that Connecticut's public schools aren't doing well enough to prepare kids to compete in the global economy, that jobs are getting hard to find and that, even if you have a job, it's tough to get to work because the traffic is so awful. All of this is laid at the feet of Chris Dodd, with the suggestion he has been in Congress too long.
So far, Dodd's ads don't even acknowledge the opposition. They show ordinary looking people speaking in hushed, reverential tones about all that Dodd has done for them. In one ad about federal funds secured for emergency services, a firefighter says that, in a sense, Chris Dodd is at the other end of the line whenever someone dials 9-1-1.
The most telling answer given all night regarding the future of this particular Senate race came after the cameras stopped and the microphones turned off.
Orchulli, who is running a largely self-financed campaign, said a preliminary poll done by his own consultants showed that his name recognition is about 50 percent in the state, up from 20 percent a couple of months ago. But a recent poll by Quinnipiac University, which also showed Orchulli's name recognition to be on the rise, showed that Dodd still led by 45 percentage points.
Weeks ago, Orchulli said he had spent about a $1 million on his campaign, and would wait for polls at the end of September and the beginning of October to decide how much more of his approximately $13 million personal fortune to invest.
Sunday night, after noting his improved name recognition, Orchulli seemed to acknowledge that the numbers are not completely encouraging. "I'm still scratching my head, deciding how much to spend at this point," Orchulli said.
The CPTV debate featuring Dodd, Orchulli, Knibbs and Libertarian Party candidate Leonard Rasch will be shown again on Sunday, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m.
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Story Source: Hartford Courant
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