Chris Dodd for President

Lynda Waddington, writing at Essential Estrogen, has a report about Senator Dodd's visit to The Irish Democrat in Cedar Rapids. Yes, Senator Dodd was sure to put in a call to the Department of Redundancy Department! Go read Lynda's post to hear more about the event...

Lynda Waddington posted this video from yesterday's Women and Family plan roll out. Eva Bunnell's daughter Jacinta was born severely disabled and Eva's prolonged fight to give her daughter the care she needed was one of major motivations for Senator Dodd to write the Family and Medical Leave Act. In the video Bunnell speaks about her experiences and how Senator Dodd helped her.

Lynda Waddington has more on the roll out of the Dodd Women's and Families Plan, which started yesterday in Iowa.

"Chris Dodd understands that women's rights have progressed in the last 50 years, but much more remains to be done," said Jennifer Lunsford, who serves on the Democratic State Central Committee and as chairwoman in Jefferson County. "I know he can work across the aisle to produce the policies that American women need."

Although nearly half the American workforce is now made up of women and women are more likely to have an advanced degree, women continue to compete on an uneven playing field. Today, women earn only 77 cents for every dollar men earn and face unique challenges balancing the demands of work and family.

“The United States is leading the world on innovations in science, technology, communication, the list goes on,” said Dodd. “But we are still leaps and bounds behind where we ought to be on something so basic – ensuring that women have the same opportunities as men, and that parents are able to maintain their jobs while caring for themselves and their families.

“In a Dodd Administration, these priorities will be where they belong – at the top – and the United States will set an example for the world in the fair and equal treatment of women and families.”
...
"I think Chris Dodd knows how to get results for women and families and bring people together," said Kay Hale, who serves as financial secretary for the Linn County Democratic Central Committee. "He brought both Democrats and Republicans to the table when he passed the Family and Medical Leave Act. I think he is the only candidate in the Democratic field who has such a strong record of results for women and American families."

Read Waddington's full post here.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving break - I know I did. As we start the final stretch before the Iowa caucus, I wanted to share two blog posts with you from this past holiday weekend.

Jackie Dodd was recently interviewed by Lynda Waddington of Iowa Independent. Waddington's piece covers the story of how Chris Dodd and Jackie Clegg first met and Jackie's involvement in past Dodd campaigns. If you've ever wanted to learn what it's like to have your husband run for President or travel to campaign stops around the nation with two young children in tow, read Waddington's interview of Jackie.

J-Ro of The Seminal, in his weekly post on MyDD, praises Senator Dodd's leadership on restoring the Constitution and the rule of law as an indication of why he thinks Dodd will be a great President:

These kinds of strong actions, taken in the present, are way better than any promise or stirring turn of phrase a politician could make on the campaign trail. What happens in 2008 is important, sure, but so is what’s happening now. And if Chris Dodd has the fortitude to fight for what he and I believe in as a Senator, I have no doubt that he’ll do the same as President.

My support for a candidate in the past was never particularly strong. I would often vote, as many have voted, for “the best of the worst,” choosing the candidate who I best identified with. But today, in the run-up to the 2008 primaries, Democrats are presented with a plethora of good choices. It’s really something amazing. For the first time in a while, almost every person in the Democratic field I could feel good about voting for in the general election. I’m now asked to pick the best candidate to support with my primary vote, not simply the best of the worst. It’s a wonderful feeling.

I’m proud, then, to choose Chris Dodd, as he has proved already, without ever stepping foot in the Oval Office, that he will fight for me.

Strong words of support J-Ro - ones that I'm sure resonate with other Dodd supporters and people who want to see proven leadership in the White House come January, 2009.

In case you haven't noticed it already, the Iowa Independent provides some of the best coverage of presidential politics in the state of Iowa, bar none. Their writers frequently attend campaign events and they provide great on the ground reporting from the state where Democrats will first cast their lots in process of selecting our next President (date to be determined). So basically, if you're not already a regular reader of Iowa Independent, I highly recommend it as a source for news out of the Hawkeye State.

By way of example, I want to bring your attention to this post by the Iowa Independent's John Deeth, who attended an event with Senator Dodd at the Iowa City book store, Prairie Lights. Deeth writes:

Matters turned back to the 21st century and Dodd's campaign during question and answers, as Dodd cited George Bush's remark that the Constitution " is only a piece of paper." He said the Geneva Convention is critical because it protects our own troops in harm's way, and our current policies put them in danger. "The worst info you get is the info you get from torture. There's no better witness to that than John McCain," he said. The world looks at the Nuremberg trials as a high point of American moral leadership, in contrast that to Abu Gharib and Guantanamo.

Dodd argues, in a sense that civil liberties and the rule of law are literally in his blood. "All of you have been asking me a question that you don't articulate. Who are you? What are your beliefs? What's my DNA in a sense? I am a product of my upbringing. My father talked about Nuremberg to his six children endlessly. These views on human rights and the Constitution come from my upbringing, not from a poll."
...
I ask Dodd how his father would want to be remembered -- as a Senator, for Nuremberg, or as the father of a president? Dodd laughs at the last and cites his father's remarks from one of the letters. "Nothing I do will ever be really as important as this," wrote the then 38-year-old Thomas Dodd in 1946. "Someday the boys will be proud of it." Six decades later, his son clearly was.

I'd also recommend you to check out this post by Iowa Independent's Lynda Waddington on Rep. Ray Zirkelbach, an Iraq war veteran and Purple Heart recipient, endorsing Chris Dodd for President.

Also, Waddington has posted a series of video clips on her own blog, Essential Estrogen, from the Black Hawk County Democratic Presidential Forum. The videos are on global warming, Iraq, health care, economic security, minority disparities, and Medicare.