Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), son of Sen. Ted Kennedy, told a crowd at a fundraiser in Newport yesterday that his older brother, Ted Jr., is considering running for Congress in his Connecticut district according to the Boston Herald.
There has been talk for a long time that Kennedy had interest in a congressional seat in Connecticut. However, he and his wife live in Branford in the Third District, home to Rosa DeLauro.
DeLauro, elected in 1990, will be 65 in 2008 and has made no indication that she is not running for re-election next year. Last year, against a non-factor Republican, she won 76% of the vote. Kennedy, a lawyer, will be 45 in September.
So is this just an attempt to float his brothers name into the political arena or is something brewing here? Is Rosa considering retirement? Is Kennedy considering a challenge? Sound off.
The Hartford Courant has a generally positive write-up of Sen. Dodd's appearance on The Daily Show last night. I know some were thoroughlydisappointed by his saying that he would have gone to the Nevada debate sponsored by Fox News, but I'd like to point out that only John Edwards and Bill Richardson actually refused that debate. If anyone is using the Fox debate as a litmus test for candidate support, they'll be limited to only two choices going forward -- which is certainly your prerogative, but probably a lot more weight than can be reasonably given to this moment in time.*
When asked by Stewart what he brings to the race that other candidates can't offer, Dodd reverted to a standard stump speech item about being the father of two young daughters. He was motivated to run, Dodd said, by asking himself "what kind of nation they [his daughters] will live in in the 21st century."
His long service in the Senate and being the author of such formative legislation as the Family and Medical Leave Act distinguished him as a candidate, he said.
"Sir, you're offering competence," Stewart said, as the audience roared with laughter. "I have to tell you, sir, I don't think the people will buy it."
Dodd gamely laughed at that and then conceded that the crowded Democratic field made him feel "a bit like being on `American Idol.'"
Hopefully one of MLN's video bloggers will update this post with clips from Dodd's TDS appearance...
*I think getting the Nevada Dems to pull the plug on Fox was a serious victory for the progressive movement, particularly the progressive movement online (aka the netroots). But it was a small battle - one debate out of many - a fact that should not diminish the importance of the win, but should prevent it from being extended to "make or break" status of candidate positioning. Granted, this may be the straw that breaks the camels back for some with regards to Dodd. But speaking more broadly it's important to keep perspective on the candidates' issue positioning and placing attendance at a debate that isn't happening ahead of Iraq or health care is silly.
Hey All,
I excited to announce that tomorrow Senator Chris Dodd will be posting at My Left Nutmeg to talk about legislation he's currently working on in the Senate. I don't have a specific time right now, but expect his post to be up around mid-day or the early afternoon. It doesn't look like he'll be able to answer comments, but will have a staffer available to respond to comments.
I hope you can all plan on joining in the discussion. Hopefully Senator Dodd will make a habit of blogging on MLN and his presence will hopefully be an example for other Democratic office holders statewide and around the country for other local blogs.
"What this verdict confirms is the current Administration has shown at every turn, that they favor their own political survival over national security and the truth. This is a just end to an appalling episode and a sobering reminder that no one is above the law."
But Hagel has not only emerged as a leading critic of the administration's foreign policy, he's also flirting with running for president next year - possibly on a hybrid ticket that would include a Democrat.
"If I decide to get into this, I would run not just to make a statement," Hagel, 60, said in an interview last week.
He said that if he ran he would seek the Republican nomination. Yet he's also talking up Unity08. That's a plan by a bipartisan group of political operatives to draft a bipartisan presidential ticket on the Internet and offer voters an alternative to the Democratic and Republican candidates next year.
"I think it's a very intriguing enterprise," Hagel said. He said most Americans are disenchanted with the major political parties.
Hmmmm. This would be interesting given Hagel's recent smackity-smack of Lieberman in committee, though I suspect nobody in the MSM will remember that that if Chuck/Joe becomes the Unity ticket. And I wonder if Sam Waterson (whose ads for the Nation air during Olbermann, in addition to his work for TD Ameritrade) will rethink his spokesmanship for Unity if they get a heartland conservative with one of the most consistent right-wing voting records around at the head of their ticket.... Nah, probably not.
Former (sadly, as of today) Air America radio host Al Franken has announced his run for the Minnesota U.S. Senate seat now held by Norm Coleman. I know Minnesota isn't Connecticut, but Franken has been a tireless voice for progressive issues and in opposition to the current right-wing regime, so his run is of interest to us all. Besides, his Midwest Values PAC supported Democratic candidates all around the country in 2006, including our very own Joe Courtney and Diane Farrell... so I, for one, plan to return the favor. Here's Al's announcement video:
According to politicalwire.com, Chris Dodd led in fundraising for the fourth quarter - outraising even Hillary, Barack, and Edwards - with the help of the "financial-services industry."
Hopefully, many of you have heard that Sen. Edwards is expected to announce his candidacy this week and to stop in Portsmouth, NH as part of his announcement tour (Little Harbour Elementary School, at 12:00 Noon).
I'm helping trying to arrange a Meet and Greet in New Hampshire, as well as a conference call for New England bloggers. If you are interested in attending a meet and greet or joining the conference call, please drop me a note.
Aldon
ahynes1 at optonline dot net
(Full disclosure: I do not currently work for the Edwards campaign, but I have had discussions with people about that as a possibility.)
Getting beyond the obviousness of David Lightman's article in today's Hartford Courant - who didn't already know the addition of Barack Obama to the Democratic primary would make every other candidates' life tougher - Lightman does a good job of elucidating the frailty of Dodd's campaign. The central thesis of Lightman's piece is that Dodd is counting on strong African-American support to help propel his campaign (apparently following in the footsteps of past presidential hopefuls Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton) and Obama's impending entry into the race will likely split the black vote between Obama and Hillary Clinton, leaving little room for Dodd.
But analysts note that Obama could hurt Dodd and other lesser-known Democrats. If Dodd runs for the White House, he will count on strong support from the African American community. He could also suffer because Obama hurts efforts to get attention as well as raise money for his possible presidential bid.
"Obama eclipses the lesser-known candidates, at least for now," said Dante J. Scala, associate professor of politics at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire.
Dodd is facing an uphill run no matter who else enters the race. He's polling below the margin of error in the few polls that have thought to include him. Fundraising remains key and it's way too early to discount any candidate. That said, the entry of a rock star candidate into the race has the potential to end the also-ran candidacies prematurely. Obama's is poised to enter the race very early, though, perhaps too early to actually force people like Dodd, Gravel, or Kucinich out (whereas if Obama were to enter the race in fall 2007, he would be more likely to knock a weak candidate out).
Dodd has to get himself out of the tier of candidates where the entry of a rock star into the race spells doom and quick. As I've said before, Dodd's only avenue to national attention is through the legislative positions he takes and promoting the Effective Terrorist Prosecution Act (S.4060) once the 110th Congress starts will be key to raising his profile. I think Dodd adds an important dimension to the presidential field - experienced legislator - and he doesn't have the Ick Factor that Biden and Kerry, the other people who can tout that title, carry with them.
All of that said, Lightman's article is really about Obama and the Obama wave that just hit New Hampshire. There is tangential connection to Dodd's candidacy in Obama, but the problems Obama creates for Dodd are only amplifications of the same problems Dodd is already facing: low name recognition and an uphill fundraising battle.
The NY Times has an Adam Nagourney piece on Obama. The story suggests that a lot of advisors are wringing their hands over potential strategies if Obama decides to run, and all indications are that he will. What I found interesting, and more than a little disquieting, was the notes in what Obama's primary themes might be.
Asked repeatedly about the woman who is perceived as his most formidable challenge in the primary, Mr. Obama has been careful not to criticize Mrs. Clinton directly. But one of his central messages is that he is something Mrs. Clinton is not: a late baby boomer (he was born in 1961, at the tail end of the post-World War II generation; Mrs. Clinton was born in 1947), and a fresh face that rises above old partisan grudges.
Mr. Obama has already provided some hints of how he would position himself against Mrs. Clinton, suggesting he would link her to her husband's presidency and their role in the intense partisanship that marked much of the 1990s and that carried over into the Bush presidency.
During a lengthy interview just before the midterm elections, Mr. Obama portrayed himself as part of a new generation of political leaders. Asked whether he detected a void in the Democratic presidential field, Mr. Obama replied that he sensed a mood of "Do we want to get beyond the slash-and-burn, highly ideological politics that bogged us down over the last several decades?"
Mr. Obama went on to say that he admired former President Bill Clinton for trying to bridge a centrist course between Democrats and Republicans. But he did not shy away from pointing out Mr. Clinton's weaknesses - as someone who came of age in the 1960s, and all the debates about Vietnam service, drug use and sexual conduct that went with it, issues that continued to play out, sometimes with Mrs. Clinton in a supporting role.
"Although his instincts were right on target, and I think, intellectually and pragmatically, he understood that America wanted to move beyond those categories, in some ways he was trapped by his biography," Mr. Obama said. "Some of what I say, I think, is facilitated by the fact that I'm less rooted in some of those arguments."
Sound eerily familiar? The language may be much more accomodating (at least at this early stage) but the tone and message are carbon-copied from Lieberman's CfL run. That's painful enough for me after volunteering for a campaign of progressive hope that lost an election because of a politician who allied himself with Rethugs under the guise of bipartisanship.
But here you have the Clintons, the patron saints of "centrism" who abandonded health care reform, made the precedent for disastrous free trade policies, marginalized the political power of unions and progressives, and they're too "polarizing" for Mr. Obama's taste. Why? Because the right-wingnutosphere used them as targets to build their audiences and a false conservative movement? Because they happenned to come of age during the era of Civil Rights and Vietnam?
You know, the CW used to be that presidential campaigns were run to the party base during the primaries and then back to the center for the general. We've already seen McCain palling around with evangelicals and I'm sure he, Giuliani, and the rest of the (R) field will be happilly proclaiming that they've found Jesus and that they want to restore moral decency (gay marriage! gay marriage!). But looks like the new rule is that Democrats have to tack right, away from the progressive base in the primary. WTF???
I don't know how much stock I'd put in the Thermometer, but Stoller thinks the Unity people will be emboldened by it.
If I'm Joe Lieberman, the Quinnipiac survey adds public support to my belief that I'm going to dominate national politics. Another run for the White House, this time on the successful politics of unity and purpose, makes a lot of sense. They are building a stupid brand, Unity08, to make this happen. They are getting support in the public polling. And Democrats are certainly afraid to attack Lieberman, setting up a perfect opportunity for him to jettison the party while retaining his relatively high favorables.
We really need to start thinking hard about how to beat back this ticket. It's not just a progressive problem; these guys are going to have fierce reformer coattails, putting our House and Senate majorities in jeopardy. I imagine it starts with chipping at their integrity. I suspect that the $387K slush fund needs to come into play.
David Lightman of the Hartford Courant has a relatively comprehensive look at Senator Chris Dodd's presidential run so far. Dodd has big obstacles to overcome: low name recognition, opponents with huge war-chests, and early primaries in states where other contenders are already well positioned. With names like Clinton, Edwards, and Obama now leading the discussion for president, Dodd has not captured the attention of pundits and pollsters in DC and talking heads on cable news. Much of the battle for presidency is fought on the airwaves and candidates who pull in free coverage now on CNN and MSNBC as the hairspray set's picks for 2008 are having their name recognition bumped up for free. Dodd has to work much harder than Clinton or Obama if he wants to become a serious presidential candidate. SFW?
Dodd has shown real leadership as a senator of late. By "real leadership" I mean he's done his job. He effectively shut down the Bolton re-re-nomination single-handedly. He has introduced a bill that would gut the Military Commissions Act (Bush's torture law). If Dodd shows leadership on foreign affairs and economic issues, particularly with a moral, populist outlook, I'll have to give him some real consideration as a candidate in 2008. What I'm asking for is both a tact left and a push to the front of the senate caucus. He's showing some inclination to do these things, but it has to continue.
Dodd has the potential to win over the netroots and Democratic Party activists through his actions as a senator. As an under the radar candidate, Dodd has to use his legislative platform as a bridge to voters who can recruit other voters to his side. His actions taken to stop the Bush agenda have clearly excited me -- the idea of a candidate who will actually stand up for his beliefs, for my desires for a Democratic senator is intoxicating.
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