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Dodd on Chris Matthews' Hardball

Dodd on Chris Matthews' Hardball

"A Democratic candidate that can‘t say, categorically, “This has not worked. It‘s put us at greater risk. We‘re more isolated in the world today”—and I don‘t think you have to leave the region. This isn‘t a question of only utilizing your military force. There are plenty of other things. Look what the administration, Chris, is now doing in North Korea. You don‘t read about North Korea any longer. At long last, they‘re coming back to the approach of diplomacy. Instead of threatening war in North Korea, they tried, actually, what many recommended—what I recommended. And, as a result, we‘re seeing a peaceful resolution of talking North Korea out of acquiring nuclear weapons. That‘s the kind of approach that we need to at least try with Iran, which poses similar threats. " Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.

Dodd on Chris Matthews' Hardball

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for Oct. 29
Read the transcript to the Monday show

[Excerpt]

MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.

It‘s time now to go to the 2008 candidates for president and check where things are headed.

Democratic Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut joins us now.

Congratulations, Senator Dodd, on the Red Sox—four in a row. I can‘t congratulate you too much on kicking the hell out of the Redskins the other day.

Do you think they rolled up the score nastily?

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D-CT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No. No, not at all.

MATTHEWS: A 45-point spread, do you think that was a little rubbing it in?

DODD: No, it‘s just how good the Patriots are. They can‘t help themselves, you know? This is a time for New England.

Look, this is a—here we are. Carry to politics, you have had a well-financed presumptive favorite out in New York. You got this challenger in New England in 2004 behind...

MATTHEWS: See, there, you‘re going to complete that thing, with the Boston College team being undefeated at 7-0, the Patriots 7-0, the Red Sox winning it in four, and Chris Dodd is now going to beat the spread.

(CROSSTALK)

DODD: There you go. You made my case for me.

(LAUGHTER)

MATTHEWS: Tell me how you‘re going to beat Obama, who‘s on his way to maybe challenging Hillary in Iowa.

I never figured out the rationale to your candidacy, because you‘re a great senator. Everybody likes you. You have got a safe seat. You have always been impressive as a senator. You‘re second generation in Connecticut. You are part of the reality of Connecticut politics. And you‘re putting it on the line in a race that includes Hillary Clinton—and you‘re friends with the Clintons. I don‘t get it.

DODD: Well, look...

MATTHEWS: Is that profound enough?

(LAUGHTER)

DODD: But no, look, the view is, here, electability and also whether or not you can govern. And I spent 26 years bringing people together to get the job done. I think the country‘s so sick of the fighting that‘s going on. Nothing seems to be moving.

Many people in this country think our best days are behind us. It makes me angry to hear that, but I think a lot of people feel that way. They think we‘re more isolated in the world today, less safe, less secure.

And, so, I bring a quarter-of-a-century of experience. On every major piece of legislation I have offered, from family and medical leave, child care, financial services, election reform, the wars in El Salvador, Nicaragua, I always brought Democrats and Republicans together.

It‘s a skill set you acquire. You can have native ability, but skill sets, you acquire. And I think the country this time around, after six years of on-the-job training in the Bush administration, is looking for someone with some bold ideas with the ability to get results.

So, it brings a unique set of qualities on domestic and foreign policy issues that I say, respectfully, I don‘t think is there with the other candidates.

MATTHEWS: But how do you bring about that choice with Hillary? Hillary is out there with these incredible numbers. Women seem to be voting for her in large numbers. Minorities are voting for her, poor people, working people and old people. She seems to have corralled every interest area of the Democratic Party right now.

DODD: No, I don‘t think so yet, not at all.

In fact, in Iowa—you know Iowa better than I know Iowa, and you have been around long enough to know—four years ago, John Kerry was behind by 20 points on December 23 in the contest in New Hampshire, and two or three weeks later won it. People are just beginning to focus on this.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Can you bring Teddy Kennedy in, like he did?

DODD: Well, no. Senator Kennedy‘s been a good friend; he‘s staying out of the race on this one.

MATTHEWS: No, but he came in for Kerry like a bandit. He came in there like...

DODD: He made a big difference for him, was a great help to him.

MATTHEWS: He hugely—Yes.

DODD: I‘m knocking on that door, but he‘s waiting a while here to see how things develop, and I don‘t blame him. I understand that. But at some point here, I‘m out there a lot and people are clearly moving.

Let me tell you this; 82 percent—we have called about 75,000, Chris, of the likely caucus attendees; 82 percent are undecided. I‘m telling you, it‘s a very different feel out there.

MATTHEWS: OK, let me ask you about the voter, because you know the voter. And whether they vote for you or not, you ought to be able to help us here.

Do the voters choose the following, column A, somebody to be smarter than Bush, but basically go the same route—go to war with Iraq, keep the war going, probably end up going to war with Iran? Or do they want something from column B, a much different approach, take us to a different place?

DODD: Much different approach. Much different.

MATTHEWS: But Hillary is basically column A. She‘s a smarter Bush.

DODD: Well, and I say that respectfully. Look at the debate at Dartmouth College.

MATTHEWS: Maybe smarter.

DODD: When the question at Dartmouth was asked by Tim Russert, your colleague, “Would you commit to the end of your first term our troops would be out of Iraq?”

The so-called three leading candidates said, “I can‘t make that commitment.” That‘s a stunning answer.

MATTHEWS: Yes.

DODD: That‘s six or seven years from today here. And when I was asked the question, I said, “Absolutely.” The policy, despite the heroic efforts of our troops, which are truly heroic, has not worked.

And you need only to talk to the troops on the ground there and they will tell you that flat out. We‘re not bringing these people together, religiously or politically.

Here, it‘s now $10 billion every month, I think it is. Here, some four million have left the country; 80,000 to 100,000 have died.

MATTHEWS: That would be an 11-year war...

DODD: That‘s right.

MATTHEWS: ... if we‘re still fighting at the end of the next president‘s term.

DODD: A Democratic candidate that can‘t say, categorically, “This has not worked. It‘s put us at greater risk. We‘re more isolated in the world today”—and I don‘t think you have to leave the region. This isn‘t a question of only utilizing your military force.

There are plenty of other things. Look what the administration, Chris, is now doing in North Korea. You don‘t read about North Korea any longer.

At long last, they‘re coming back to the approach of diplomacy. Instead of threatening war in North Korea, they tried, actually, what many recommended—what I recommended. And, as a result, we‘re seeing a peaceful resolution of talking North Korea out of acquiring nuclear weapons. That‘s the kind of approach that we need to at least try with Iran, which poses similar threats.

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about this election right now. When do you think it‘s going to become—really pick up speed? When are people going to...

(CROSSTALK)

DODD: ... right now.

MATTHEWS: You say that people aren‘t committed in Iowa. And I agree. A lot people—I saw it. And the Republican side, you read they haven‘t decided what to do.

DODD: No.

MATTHEWS: When are they going to start locking into candidates?

(CROSSTALK)

DODD: I think probably around 1st of December or so. That‘s been history, what people tell me. Tom Harkin, who knows this better than anyone, says it‘s the last 10 days. I mean, John Kerry said the same thing to me, people to maneuver. You‘re working. You‘re talking—but the last 10 days or two weeks.

MATTHEWS: OK. Are we going to have a Christmas vacation this year or are we going to go right through the—my wife and I have discussed this. January 3 -- we used to get that week off. In fact, most businesses, you could get off between Christmas and New Year‘s, right?

DODD: Not this year. Not this year.

MATTHEWS: Now, we‘re going to—I just figured out that we‘re going to be doing shows the end of the Christmas week. Christmas is midweek. We will be doing shows through the end of that week...

DODD: That‘s correct.

MATTHEWS: ... in preparation for these Iowa causes on the 3rd.

DODD: On January 3, that‘s right. And you will be right there. And then, five days later, you‘re in New Hampshire on January 8.

MATTHEWS: So, it‘s not going to be Dick Clark this year. It‘s not going to be Times‘ Square.

DODD: No.

MATTHEWS: It‘s going to be you guys.

DODD: Right out there in Des Moines. You can watch the ball fall in Des Moines.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: You know what someone once said, the last person leaving Des Moines, please turn out the lights. But we are going to spend the new years, welcoming the new year in Iowa. Good luck. You know, you sound really good today. Thank you.

Like the haircut, too. Thank you Senator Chris Dodd. Up next—it wasn‘t 200 dollars. Up next, we‘ll run the numbers on the latest polls out of Iowa. We were just talking about them. And who‘s going up out there and who‘s slipping? I think Edwards is slipping. We‘re going to talk about that when we come back and also the new TV ads with Rudy and Barack Obama featured. This is HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.




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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





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