2007.10.07: October 7, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Election2008 - Dodd: Hartford Courant: Senator Chris Dodd Reflects On The State Of The Presidential Campaign
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2007.10.07: October 7, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Election2008 - Dodd: Hartford Courant: Senator Chris Dodd Reflects On The State Of The Presidential Campaign
Senator Chris Dodd Reflects On The State Of The Presidential Campaign
"I've found a very strong reaction when I talked about universal national service in the country - the idea of creating more slots for AmeriCorps, Vista, Peace Corps and other things where people can contribute to their communities and the country in a way that a generation of us ago did. I don't know how many times I've said this, but when I joined the Peace Corps back in the '60s, I've been asked a million times why I joined it. [The answer is] very simply, the American president asked me to. I look out at an audience and I see enough gray hair around, I'll say, "Hey, does everyone of us remember a time when it was very exciting to be an American and very exciting to be young and very exciting to be invited to do something bigger than yourself?" It was a terrific time. We felt good about it. We didn't solve all the problems we thought we were going to, but you had a feeling you were making a difference. Compare that with a president who, when asked in the wake of 9/11 what we ought to be doing as a country, said go shopping." Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.
Senator Chris Dodd Reflects On The State Of The Presidential Campaign
Connecticut's Senior Senator Reflects On The State Of The Presidential Campaign - And How For The Democrats, Everything May Hinge On Iowa
October 7, 2007
Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democratic presidential hopeful, spoke with members of The Courant's editorial board on Thursday; below are edited excerpts. The interview can be seen at www.ct-n.com. It will be rebroadcast on CT-N at 9:50 p.m. Monday. See CT-N's website for airtimes after Monday.
Polls Aren't Everything
At this point four years ago - you don't have to go far back - John Kerry was about 2 or 3 percent in the polls. He was 27 points behind Howard Dean. On Dec. 23, 2003, he was 19 points behind Howard Dean and at 4 percent in the polls, 2 points behind Rev. Sharpton. ...
I'd like to have better poll numbers, sure, but does it determine the outcome in Iowa?
Iowa is a very organizational state. There are roughly 500,000 Democrats in that state. The largest number of people who have ever voted in a caucus are 120,000 people. Now, you may get more this time because of what's at stake and because of who some of the candidates are.
On caucus night, that cold night either in January or December or November - depending on when this happens; let's assume it's January - you have to arrive on time, there are 2,000 precincts, they close the door when you get there at a certain hour, you can't be late, you can't leave the room. Your candidate has to represent at least 15 percent of the people in that room or they don't count, and then there's a play for every other candidacy in the room.
Polling means almost nothing, organization means everything, and hence the reason why John Kerry ... did win that night. It wasn't that the polls were wrong. It was that one was organized, one wasn't.
Handicapping Democrats
If John Edwards doesn't win in Iowa, basically the campaign is over ... I think Hillary can get away [with losing] because the expectation is that Edwards might win. But if but Barack Obama comes in third or fourth, that's over with.
If we come in third or better, that's the news that night. That's when you can be off to the races. Things happen in races, they just do, and with 95 days to go before that first night ... who knows what can happen?
All I know is this much: If you're not there, nothing is going to happen, so you've got to be there.
Handicapping Republicans
On the Democratic side, they're uneasy about electability with the two leading candidates, candidly. ... With Republicans, I think there's a dissatisfaction with the crop ...
I'm not here to promote Republican candidates, but I think Mike Huckabee is an example of someone who is down in the polls, not known as well known, but is beginning to resonate a little bit and could emerge in all of this.
Reluctant Iowans
I love to tease audiences in Iowa, "Listen, I spent less time courting my wife and getting accepted on a matrimonial proposal than I have in getting commitments from you to vote in the caucus." ... They don't commit quickly, you've got to be patient.
Busy Reporters
Who do you cover? You're not going to cover 19 people. ... The expectation that Adam Nagourney [of The New York Times] or Dan Balz [of The Washington Post] is going to spend a lot of time traveling around with somebody who is at 2 percent in the polls when they've got a readership, they've got papers to sell? You're not selling many papers with someone at 2 percent. ...
That's what happens in the debates. ... I could almost go sit in the audience and have a hotdog by the time they get to me. So it's frustrating.
There's a hollowness to campaigns that are just grocery lists. Everyone talks about Iraq and health care and education and environment and energy. ... People do want to know where you stand on these things and what you would do about them. But what Tony Blair always talked about were unpolled issues, the things that don't show up in a survey.
I think where presidential campaigns are won and lost ... have to do with temperament, character. They have to do with boldness, they have to do with the ability to actually get results.
The Rule of Law
Related links
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Courant Editorial Board Interview With Chris Dodd | CT-n Courant Editorial Board Interview With Chris Dodd | CT-n
I'm finding a very strong reaction to the rule-of-law issue. Now, maybe it's an issue that is defined by a relatively narrow group of people. I suspect it's deeper than that ...
There is something about us, our rights, our sense of privacy, our basic freedoms. Even as we watch someone else being deprived for reasons we're willing to accept in one part of us, we also find it a bit of an assault on all of us in a sense.
National Service
I've found a very strong reaction when I talked about universal national service in the country - the idea of creating more slots for AmeriCorps, Vista, Peace Corps and other things where people can contribute to their communities and the country in a way that a generation of us ago did.
I don't know how many times I've said this, but when I joined the Peace Corps back in the '60s, I've been asked a million times why I joined it. [The answer is] very simply, the American president asked me to.
I look out at an audience and I see enough gray hair around, I'll say, "Hey, does everyone of us remember a time when it was very exciting to be an American and very exciting to be young and very exciting to be invited to do something bigger than yourself?" It was a terrific time.
We felt good about it. We didn't solve all the problems we thought we were going to, but you had a feeling you were making a difference.
Compare that with a president who, when asked in the wake of 9/11 what we ought to be doing as a country, said go shopping.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: October, 2007; RPCV Chris Dodd (Dominican Republic); Figures; Peace Corps Dominican Republic; Directory of Dominican Republic RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Dominican Republic RPCVs; Politics; Congress; Connecticut
When this story was posted in October 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Hartford Courant
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