Gazette Online, IA
12-08-07
Dodd says his insider knowledge a big plus
By Rod Boshart
The Gazette
DES MOINES — Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd is experiencing Iowa's
presidential vetting process up close and personal.
Dodd, 63, has taken the "I'm one of you" political mantra to a new level by
relocating his family to Iowa while he makes his case that he should be the
Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nominee, starting in the state that kicks off
the selection process.
In a unique move, Dodd, his wife Jackie, and two daughters, aged 6 and 2, have
taken up temporary residence in an upscale Des Moines home to stay close and
maintain some semblance of family normalcy in the hectic, demanding world of
big-time politics.
"On a personal level, it couldn't be better," said Dodd, as he pours himself a bowl
of cereal during a morning campaign break to sit down for an interview while
daughter Christina scurries around a living room decorated with children's art and
makeshift holiday decorations. The two-story Tudor house is a mix of home life
and political hub.
"It gives you a different perspective and feel. It's much more pleasant," said
Dodd, a veteran of eight successful election campaigns, adding that the reduced
travel and 100 days campaigning in Iowa have produced some unexpected
positive results.
"Results" is a word that comes up a lot in conversation with the Washington
veteran who served three terms in the U.S. House before moving to the Senate
in 1981 — following his father, the late Thomas J. Dodd, who spent four years in
Congress and 12 years as a U.S. senator until 1971.
Dodd brings an expansive resume that includes a stint in the Peace Corps in the
Dominican Republican, where he became fluent in Spanish. He also is the only
presidential candidate with military experience in the Army National Guard and
U.S. Army Reserves. He worked as an attorney in private law practice and, after
a divorce from his first wife, once dated Bianca Jagger.
Known as a pro-growth Democrat, Dodd, chair of the Senate Banking
Committee, holds out his 32-year legislative career as an example of how
Washington can and should work when elected officials put aside partisan
differences and help people and make the country stronger.
"I think the experience this time around is a great asset. After six years of on-thejob training, to put it mildly, with George Bush, experience has a certain cache,"
he said.
"People are looking for leadership that not only talks about change, but has been
an engine of it," he added. "I'm known as the senator who can bridge those
(partisan) gaps. I do it very well. It's native ability, but it's acquired skills."
Dodd previously crossed the aisle to author legislation to provide better access to
safe and affordable child care, to establish the Family Medical Leave Act, to
reform financial services, to expand voting rights through the Help America Vote
Act and to instill some federal fiscal discipline.
"Senator Dodd has earned my respect for his relentless legislative successes,"
said Terry Stewart, chairman of the Dubuque County Democratic Party.
However, Steffen Schmidt, an Iowa State University political science
professor, questioned whether this is an election cycle where a dark-horse
candidate can "leapfrog" into the top tier as a Washington insider.
"It looks as though 2008 is not the year when people want the president to be a
Washington insider or a white guy," Schmidt said. "If you want an insider, just
vote for Hillary Clinton."
Dodd disagrees, saying he is connecting with Iowa voters who have shown they
are still waiting to make their final choices heading into the Jan. 3 decision day.
"Electability has become the dominant issue. It's more important than Iraq," said
Dodd, who sees parallels between Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's late surge
to his party's nomination four years ago and his positioning now.
Before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Dodd authored legislation to help
towns and cities hire, equip and train firefighters and other emergency
responders, and he said the birth of his daughter shortly after those attacks
helped fire his decision to run for president.
Dodd also has been a fighter for constitutional protections. Dodd voted in favor of
the Iraq war resolution in 2002 but since has become a leading proponent for
ending the war with a firm deadline that is enforceable through funding.
The Connecticut senator has picked up the support of numerous Iowa legislators
and political officials, the International Association of Fire Fighters — a group
crucial to Kerry's 2004 success — and independent insurance agents.
Dodd said three stories will emerge from next month's Iowa caucuses ¿ those
candidates who equaled expectations, those that failed to meet expectations and
those who exceeded expectations. He hopes to be among the latter.
With 13 campaign offices around Iowa and about 90 staffers on the ground,
Dodd said his organization is stronger than the pundits realize, noting that a
national reporter came to Iowa to follow his campaign expecting "to see a onecar funeral" and left impressed with what she found.
"I feel very good about where we are and about how things are going," he said.
"Iowans make up their minds late in this process, and the door is still wide, wide
open here in terms of people deciding in the last two weeks."
After that, it will be a matter of heading immediately for New Hampshire and
relocating his family back east.
Dodd's temporary Iowa address doesn't mark the first time a presidential
contender has moved to the state, however. In the 1988 election cycle, then-Rep.
Richard Gephardt of Missouri rented an apartment in Iowa for his elderly mother
and because a virtual resident. He won the caucuses that year, but quickly faded.