Dodd Days of Fall

This Wednesday, Chris Dodd and his wife served at a Youth Homeless Center in Des Moines. Senator Dodd served the food while his wife washed the dishes, their daughter did not attend, due to the weather. Some of the served shook Dodd's hand and wished him luck, some discussed issues, most of those being served either simply went through the line or chatted about things other than politics. Thursday, Dodd's Press shop released a list of things Dodd was thankful for- many of the items on the list were related in some manner to Iowa. For example Senator Dodd was thanking and being thankful for the Military and Civilian Service men and women of Iowa. Tim Shriver, the chairman of the Special Olympics committee has announced his endorsement for Senator Dodd. Reason given is Sen. Dodd's history of fighting for children's issues, Dodd's time in the Peace Corps
and Dodd's energy plan. In an appearance at Drake University Sen. Dodd said the the Bush administration was partially to blame for the conflict in Pakistan. Dodd said that the administration has put too much "undue pressure" in regards to finding the Taliban in Afghanistan. Sen. Dodd said that the U.S should keep encouraging Mursharraf to lift martial law, but not to deny military and economic ad to the country. Recently Project Vote-smart released its "presidential courage" test, Sen. Dodd being one of the three presidential candidates who agreed to take the test. Monday, in Sioux City, Sen. Dodd held a forum on his plans for Veterans and the changes he would make for the department of Veteran Affairs.

Chris Dodd 11/11-18/07

Senator Dodd spent the week, like many of his opponents, drumming up support in Iowa. The senator reaffirmed his policies, like an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, but also made sure to appeal to grassroots Iowa voters, talking about taking children to the state fair among other things. As the week started with the Veteran's Day holiday, Dodd, a former member of the National Guard and Army Reserve, took time throughout his tour of Iowa to speak about his veteran's policies, such expediting disability benefits and extending his Family and Medical Leave Act. At a Union Auto Worker's conference on Monday in Dubuque, Iowa, Dodd flaunted his impeccably pro-labor voting record. Despite these efforts, polls consistently show Dodd's support in Iowa at 1%, tied with Dennis Kucinich.

Like the other major Democratic candidates, the climax of Dodd's week was Thursday's debate in Las Vegas. Though the majority of questions were put to frontrunners Clinton, Obama, and Edwards, when the questions did come his way, Dodd came out swinging. He called out the three frontrunners for avoiding questions, and jumped on the bandwagon to attack Clinton and Obama for their muddled responses to immigration questions in this debate and the last debate.

Dodd also picked up an endorsement this week from former New Hampshire senator John Durkin. This is an important endorsement, as New Hampshire is one of the more volatile states. On Friday, Dodd voted against a bill to provide more funding for the Iraq war. Dodd was the only major candidate to vote against the bill, reiterating his pledge not to approve any further funding for the war unless it is tied to ending the war.