It is time for Senator Chris Dodd, the senior senator from Connecticut, to act his age and come home to Connecticut. The run for president was a neat idea, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but please — it’s over.
It is possible to construct a scenario under which Sen. Dodd wins his party’s nomination, but at this point, even the most ardent Dodd supporter would have trouble explaining it with a straight face.
Like Sen. Joseph Lieberman before him, the time is drawing near for Sen. Dodd to thank his supporters and return to the U.S. Senate, where he has been missing votes on a regular basis.
The thing is, Dodd has been a senator from Connecticut for a long time. He has been a national leader — in some sense — on issues of foreign policy. So we in Connecticut gave him a pass to run for president. The leave of absence is now up, things are not looking good at all and it’s time to give the leash a sharp, firm yank.
Talking To Himself
This campaign started with a frank discussion with the mirror. Just the senator and his mirror — a discussion all candidates for office apparently have at one time or another, but the conversation that should be given the least weight.
For all his years in politics and government, Dodd should have listened most to the people who were telling him not to run, but perhaps there weren’t that many. Dodd is a likeable guy, and likeable guys in politics tend to collect advisors who are also fans. When he came to them and said, “I want to do this,” there’s a good chance few fought him hard on it. This could be his last chance — how could anyone tell him no?
Now, like John McCain, there is the sense that Dodd has stayed in the fight game too long. Every successful politician has his moment. It has been said some are lucky enough to have their moment when it is also their time. Dodd’s moment has passed and the time is nowhere near right.
The money is on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The big ideas look ahead while Dodd’s look back to the 60’s. While Dodd tries to recapture the Kennedy mystique, Clinton is recapturing her husband’s and Obama is creating his own.
Dodd’s campaign theme has been experience, but even that is dangerous. Experience is more than length of service. For all Dodd’s experience, his most often cited accomplishments are the Family and Medical Leave Act and his time in the Peace Corps. The most recent coming 15 years ago. He has spent considerable time on the national stage, but mostly as a reliable critic of Republican presidents. Criticizing a president doesn’t make you presidential grade.
Instigating Questions
This campaign for president might lead people to notice his record and ask: why do we keep sending him back? His run for president is also forcing him to raise money the way most politicians do, from the people who have business before him. One of his spokesmen recently argued publicly that there is no connection between the senator’s policy decisions and his campaign contributions. Another invitation to unwanted further inquiry.
If Christopher Dodd is so bored with the job we gave him, he should retire and give someone else a chance. If he had distinguished himself more as a U.S. senator then perhaps a run for the presidency would make sense, maybe it would even be necessary. But the truth is the American people are not looking for Dodd s experience and the failure of his candidacy should give the voters of Connecticut reason to question their own decision about re-electing him. He is running on his record.
Dean Pagani is Senior Vice President, Public Relations and Public Affairs, for Cashman and Katz Integrated Communications in Glastonbury.
