Chris Dodd for President

My name is Chris Dodd, I'm a Democrat running for President of the United States. Today America faces some very profound challenges. We're bogged down in someone else's civil war in Iraq and our standing in the world is in tatters. Our dependence on foreign oil has put our national security and the very health of our planet at stake. At home, the strength of our middle class is increasingly threatened by rising health care, energy, and college tuition costs. With all that's at stake, you'd think that we'd be talking about the very real issues that are before us. But too often that's not the case.

[Video montage: CNN: "Today Hillary Clinton is going online to ask her supporters and YouTube users a very important question: What should her campaign theme song be?" FOX News: "The O'Reilly Factor is on. Tonight, bedlam in the Paris Hilton case!" FOX News: "A report from the Federal Election Commission says the haircuts were paid for out of Edwards' campaign funds." ABC: "Anna Nicole Smith -- her will was released yesterday." MSNBC: "First of all, though, do you agree with Obama Girl that this video is a good thing for Barack?"]

They say they talk about haircuts instead of troop cuts, song choices instead of energy choices, Paris instead of Baghdad, because they say that's what you want to talk about. Today, we have the ability to bypass the traditional media filter by participating in discussions online, through blogs and YouTube, ensuring that the important issues get the real attention that they deserve in the 2008 presidential campaign. I want to use my YouTube Spotlight to bring your attention to one piece of legislation that I'm working on today - and that is the Dodd Amendment to the Defense Authorization bill. It'll be under consideration in early July and if passed the President would be required to begin redeployment -- getting our troops out of Iraq -- within 30 days of passage. I'd like to ask you to help me get this legislation passed by picking up your phone or getting on your computer and emailing and calling your Senators or meeting them in person over the coming Senate break. And then videotape these conversations, either in their offices or with them on the phone or emailing them and asking them to support the Dodd Amendment to end the Iraq War. Upload it onto YouTube and we'll link from my website at chrisdodd.com. So thanks for listening today, thanks for tuning in. Please stay in touch with us.