My friend Jonathan Kantrowitz is a loyal advocate on behalf of Chris Dodd, and it will be surrogates that may yet persuade angry voters that Connecticut’s senior senator is the goods that can bring home the goods. But Dodd has a lot of work to do.
Dodd’s cratering in public opinion polls is not exclusive to Connecticut. Other senior Washington insiders face the same challenges. A combination of things have contributed to his mess, in particular voters who were hurting when they thought he was benefiting. I don’t think Dodd will be successful alone by trotting out a proposal a week to win back the electorate. He needs to connect what I’ve done for you with what I’ll do for you.
If you live in Bridgeport, or for that matter anywhere in Connecticut, can you think of one thing in 30 years that Dodd did for you in Washington? One thing? Can you name two things? What has he done for the state’s largest city? I’m willing to listen.
The latest poll by www.rasmussenreports.com mirrors other polls surveying Dodd’s standing with the electorate. Name a Republican, any Republican, and Dodd’s in trouble with each one. Ouch! Sometimes the electorate shuts down on a pol and there’s not an electric shock on the planet that can revitalize his standing. I don’t think Dodd is there yet. The two leading Republicans former Congressman Rob Simmons and former WWE chief executive Linda McMahon will not be bashful ripping each other to pieces on the way to the GOP nomination. But that won’t be enough to rehabilitate Dodd.
If I’m running a campaign for Dodd I’d trot out regular folks that can look into a camera, proclaim on the radio, scream from the mountain tops what Dodd did to help them. If he does enough of that to sway independent voters he’ll survive. If not, I understand he’s got a nice place in Ireland waiting for him.
(Check out my daily webzine www.onlyinbridgeport.com)
Time for Dodd to disappear. And by extension, what has some of the local legislators done for Bridgeport. They don’t act as a bloc, but rather as racially separate members of the Connecticut Legislature with no single purpose beneficial to Bridgeport (AKA the step-child of Connecticut). Perhaps only Chris Caruso in his Don Quiotesque manner has done his more than fair share. And Hartford and Bridgeport politicians look upon him an an irritant.
I can tell you what Dodd has done.
1)He has received special treatment from Countrywide while a Senior member of the Senate Banking Committee. (The fox guarding the chickens.)
2)AIG. Dodd added an amendment into the stimulus bill making sure that executives of firms bailed out by the government could still collect bonuses. Dodd first denied then reluctantly admitted it. AIG had donated more to Dodd than to any other American politician. And his wife served from 2001-2004 on the board of a AIG subsidiary.
3)Called Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “fundamentally strong” …….
etc, etc.
I wrote Sen Dodd with my current concerns regarding the direction of Health Care Reform. As an owner of a business in Bridgeport I explained how this would impact me and my employees. His response was disappointing to say the least. Generic and political.
I think that anyone who wants to enter politics should have some backround in owning or managing a business or at least working in the private sector first.
Politicians only spend other peoples money.
Well, Sean, when you find out what Dodd has done for Bridgeport, please let us know.
“Jack” has it exactly right. You write a column for Connecticut Post that specializes in the goings-on in Bridgeport. Instead of posing the question of what Dodd has done for Bridgeport, and leaving the question unanswered, with the clear implication that he’s done nothing for the city, why not move your journalistic stumps, do the research, and find out exactly what he’s done or not done for the city?
Isn’t that part of your job? Doesn’t the “prize-winning journalist” and author of “Only in Bridgeport” owe it to his readers to find out? Aren’t you the guy who’s supposed to come up with the answers?
Yes, I’m an advocate for Chris Dodd, who is hard at work doing great things for the nation, not just for Bridgeport. If local people can’t identify with the needs of our country, that’s too bad. If they listen to nonsense like he moved to Iowa for a few weeks to get a free college education for his kids, then they deserve Linda McMahon.
Voters in Bpt. and all of Ct vote Democrat and then wonder why they get the same results… that’s insanity. BAAAAAAAAA
Irregardless of Dodd’s “record”… it’s time for him to go. Here is the senior senator from Connecticut who established a residency in Iowa during the caucuses in his abortive entry into the presidential campaign. He did this for 2 reasons; first to take advantage of the free education for his children at the college level, second to make it appear that he is a member of the Iowa community. Additionally, he benefitted from his position as chairman of the senate banking committee. And add to that his do nothing status in respect to the step-child of Connecticut, Bridgeport.
Hi Jack:
I’ve been through that list. What among that list can Dodd call his own, that he actually initiated on behalf of the state’s largest city over a 30-year career that wasn’t part of the regular legislative flow that hundreds of cities across the country share? The point is if you stop the average Bridgeport Joe in the street few can point to one thing Dodd initiated that impacted their life, maybe Family Leave. We’re talking about a 30-year career in the senate. That’s the challenge of his campaign.
Check out Dodd’s website dodd.senate.gov. In the search box, type in Bridgeport.
After reading through the hundreds of things Dodd has done for Bridgeport, I would hope you would re-write this piece and title it it: “What Dodd had done for you Bridgeport”.