Sen. Dodd announces 2008 bid

While not quite officially declared YET... But:

Sen. Dodd announces 2008 bid: "Dodd, a 26-year Senate veteran, told the “Imus in the Morning” radio show he will file paperwork to establish a campaign committee later in the day.

“I know how to do this. I know what has to be done. I’m going to get out and make my case,” Dodd said. He described himself as a dark horse in a Democratic field dominated by Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama — neither of whom have yet entered the race.

“There’s a heightened sense of urgency about the condition of the country. But it isn’t just Iraq — there are problems here at home that are huge,” Dodd said. He said he planned to focus on issues like education, energy policy and health care in his campaign."

While he is mistaken if he thinks that Hillary Clinton OR Barrack Obama are dominating anything since both hardly have any record of real leadership in the last 2 years, and we notice these things, I think it is a good thing to see THE ONLY MODERATE SENATOR IN CONNECTICUT throw his name into the race.

I have had it with the farrr-right-wingnuts that try to paint themselves as some sort of moderate centrists when they are really only radicals that are way off to the right of the average American.

Dodd's strong suits: His positions on Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, and Iraq.

Civil Rights:
Dodd authored and successfully enacted landmark election reform legislation -- the "Help America Vote Act" -- following the 2000 presidential election to protect the voting rights of all Americans. This law has been called the most important civil rights legislation since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It strengthens the voting rights of all Americans -- regardless of race, income, or disability -- to better ensure that their votes are counted.

Recognizing the important contributions made by African Americans to American life and history, Dodd co-authored a law to create the National Museum of African American History in Washington, DC.

Senator Dodd is the co-author with Senator Jim Talent (R-MO) of legislation to establish an Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Division at the Department of Justice. This division would be responsible for investigating and prosecuting long-unsolved civil rights crimes against Americanss successfully passed out of the Senate. The legislation passed the Senate in mid-2005.

Civil Liberties:
Dodd supports revisions to the USA PATRIOT Act that will strengthen our nation's ability to fight terrorism while preserving Americans' civil liberties, such as the right to privacy. He also is the author, with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), of legislation that would strengthen freedom of speech and freedom of the press by limiting the ability of the federal government to prosecute citizens and journalists for speaking confidentially about abuses of power by government and corporate officials.

Iraq:
Washington, Dec 25 (Prensa Latina) Presidential hopeful Senator Christopher Dodd urged the US Administration to withdraw from Iraq.

The Des Moines Register of Iowa says Dodd, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, termed pointless the US strategy in Iraq and called for an immediate retreat.

Dodd's weakest suits: Ties to banking and financial lobbyists and the fact that he is not a "branded name" across the country.

''Any time you are chairman of a committee that oversees, arguably, the wealthiest sector of society, that's a significant opportunity to raise some real dough,'' said Chris Lehane, a Democratic strategist from several presidential campaigns. ''But it's potentially a double-edged sword.''

The senator has accepted millions of dollars in contributions from Wall Street interests during his 25 years in the Senate, but his new chairmanship, plus his White House ambitions, have upped the ante.

''It's a tightrope walk when you're the chairman of a committee that regulates the industry that gives the most money to politics, in general,'' said Massie Ritsch, communications director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group. ''It has to be tempting to take a lot of money from this industry, because they want to give it so much.''...

I know that there are a lot of other issues that are weaknesses and strengths but those are the ones that, off of the top of my head, I could remember reading about lately.