Let the 2nd Tier Battle Begin

My fellow 'Yokee Cosmo over at NH2008 tells us that Sen. Chris Dodd has wagered, against Bill Richardson, a gallon of New England Clam Chowder on his Boston Red Sox winning this weekend's three game series against the New York Yankees.

This is nothing but gotcha politics in hopes of drawing attention to Richardson's Yankeegate. But we are big fans of swagger here at 3Q. Back in the day Governor Richardson made a flub about liking the Yankees, and has been on his horse to prove his Boston allegiance ever since. As I have noted on this site, Bill even went as far as conveniently placing a Sox cap in the background of his Ask Bill spots on youtube.

Doubtful that Dodd will pick up any traction over this. Maybe next time, come playoffs (?), he will make the same bet with Hillary Clinton.
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Read about Connecticut's mixed Yankee heritage here. Dodd's hometowns of East Haddam and Willimantic fall within Red Sox Nation according to the Times' map below, while Middletown and Guilford sit precariously close to the fence in Yankee Country.

Another Point for Dodd

While Politico examines the sickbed that is Joe Biden's campaign, little known 02138 magazine has an interview with Al Gore where he says, "odds are that I will (endorse during the primary)." Coming on the heels of the IAFF endorsement (as well as fellow NH Blogger Vargas) Gore also singularly mentions Chris Dodd, albeit as part of a general failure by the Democrats:

I don’t think anyone has given it the emphasis that it should have. But Chris Dodd deserves credit for proposing a CO2 tax—I’m convinced that we should eliminate the payroll tax and replace it dollar for dollar with a CO2 tax.

In other news, I will be shunning the GOP debate live-blogging scene in order to assert 3Q's dominance on the Concord Pub Trivia circuit. I'll be at the Barley House starting at 8PM (and most every Wednesday hereafter). All bloggers and campaign workers are welcomed to bear witness, and even potentially join the team. Tryouts will be held throughout the month of September, and beginning in October I hope to have formed the team of champions. Bring it, Granite State.

Fighting Fire with Silver

GONE-zales may be all over the news, but my favorite political story of the day lies well below the radar. As a full caveat, Politico has been wrong before, but the story from Ben Smith's Dem blog is that the International Association of Fire Fighters are endorsing Chris Dodd. This is an interesting turn of events due to the fact that Dodd is currently sitting at best fifth in the ranks, and has been lacking momentum from day one. I give credit to the IAFF for sticking to their guns and going with a darkhorse candidate with whom they have a history instead of trying to pick a winner, and also for putting their hat in the ring at an early enough stage to make a difference. You dance with the girl you came to the prom with, you don't bust out the pimp game with the presumptive Queen once the music starts. Who's to say whether or not this will give Dodd any traction, or even a leg up on the Veep nod, but at least it's something.

The White Hare

Just wanted to throw this up, the transcript of Dodd on O'Reilly. I mentioned this earlier today in the comments section of a previous post, but the more I read the more I felt it should be given a greater spotlight by 3Q Nation. Check out the video here.

No Dodd-ling on Climate Change

Concord, NH -

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) was in the heart of Concord vegan country today, but to listen to his words it was clear that political vegetarians need not apply. The topic was energy policy, the scene was the NH Sierra Club headquarters, in a second floor office overlooking the sleepy mill-era brick facades of downtown Concord, and on the menu was a whole lotta red meat. Served rare, and char grilled to boot.

After Dodd blogger and fellow Wes '04er Matt Browner-Hamlin finished setting up the live streaming webcam for D-TV (no, not that D TV) and all the local environmental dignitaries found their places, the room settled in to a polite silence as Senator Dodd entered from stage right. His appearance was typically patrician - a dark navy suit with anchor-emblazoned buttons topped off by his signature slicked-back fine white hair. He clipped on his webcam mic, cracked a joke about Clinton and Edwards' mic awareness, and got to work. He spoke quickly and fiercely, rarely mincing words when it came to the road blocks of serious energy policy.

The first item of business, that which he believes best sets him apart from his peers, was the issue of a corporate carbon tax. Dodd couldn't go on enough about this policy tool. No other Democratic candidates will even say the "t-word", he claimed, and it is the only stick that will get us moving toward his 80% carbon reduction ideas in a timely fashion. He spoke of cap-and-trade in addition, but reiterated that the carbon tax was A-1 in mitigating global climate change.

Dodd suggested the revenues from the carbon tax would bring in some $50B, which would then be used for a number of mitigating factors. The money would hurry along sustainable technology, subsidize and incentivize the use of efficient technology by homeowners and small businesses, and help industry make the changes necessary to achieve the 80% reduction. He shushed the idea that a $50B tax increase was too high a burden on our nation. Instead, he would challenge anyone who to the notion that we are currently paying somewhere between $60B and $300B in taxes and revenues to countries who produce foreign oil. "Am I willing to go to the deli across the street and make the same case?" he asked, "I will and I have." It was the first time I had ever been to a campaign stop held specifically for an interest group so I wonder if Dodd really is that frank and fiery about climate change mitigation on a normal basis.

General carbon reduction wasn't his only topic. Referring to the critical notion that establishing a 50mpg CAFE standard is untenable, Dodd said the idea "that we can't do it is offensive to me. It insults my intelligence." He cited his wife's old 1983 Honda CRX's 43mpg efficiency rate and continued to say that doing this "may save the automobile industry" from foreign competition. He spoke often about the need for more transit, both to give people a chance not to drive and even to relieve the soon-to-be saturated continental airline routes.

More importantly, Dodd told the crowd to demand answers. Don't let the other candidates simply re-state the goals that we all agree with, like becoming more energy independent and reducing greenhouse gases. After closing his speech with his ability to reach out to people who disagree by mentioning the many GOP co-sponsors of his bills over the years (Orrin Hatch, Kit Bond, Jesse Helms, Phil Gramm, Arlen Specter) he mused out loud, "I gotta learn to calm down." And how! Dodd's fiery rhetoric flowed naturally within the Sierra Club gathering, but to outsiders it likely would have smacked of the lofty oratory that only comes from years in the Senate. Dodd certainly had some good ideas, not the least of which was his claim to host a Kyoto-like summit in the US within the first 100 days of his Presidency to show the world we care about climate change, but the package was a little sharp.

If America is a toy consumer, today's package was closer to Johnny Switchblade Adventure Punk than it was to a Beanie Baby. I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence, of course. Chris Dodd, given all the legislative good he has done over the years, is about as far from Irwin Mainway as you can get. Who knows, maybe the American Public needs a nice romp with Bag o'Glass, after all, lest we all end up with the same fate as Johnny Human Torch.

Afterward I spoke with him about a mutual friend of ours, Chris Foster. Foster is Dodd's nephew and a former teammate of mine at Wesleyan. Dodd's eyes lit up when I mentioned the connection and had nothing but good things to say about both Foster and the Wesleyan team that ushered him in as a freshman back in '03. Respect to the Senator for recognizing that young and dirty '03 team that went something like this - Kiely, Bissell, King, Greeney, Battaglino, Brady, Foster. Future NESCAC and New England champs abound in those ranks!

Again, the webcast of the Dodd visit, potentially starring the back of my head (2nd row, next to the aisle) can be viewed on DTV:
http://www.chrisdodd.com/dtv

Vive Le Democracy

Once again, I hate to beat a dead source, especially when it is the Bourgeois likes of The Times, but my continued readership this afternoon brought me to this gem from Patrick Healy, whose vacationing dispatch from France brought to light the interest of the Parisians in our own election, notably when it concerns HRC. It is an interesting read on the whole, but best characterized by this outside observation, reminiscent of the truth spoken most recently by Jean Girard:

My friend Julio underscored the questions about Mrs. Clinton this way: would she be a president who told the truth to Americans about Iraq and terrorism and other challenges? Or, he asked, “would she continue to triangulate, as she and other Democrats did on Iraq and the Patriot Act, in order to win power?”

Julio, my friend, you must have spent plenty of time down at the schoolyard. Even if Paul Simon is a Dodd supporter.

DE(bat)ES Nuts!!

All eight of our Democratic presidential hopefuls squared off last night in the first of who knows how many debates down at South Carolina State. Today the press corps came out with a number of "winners" and "losers", so I figured that we should do the same here at 3QHQ. Everyone from The Fix to Slate to Joe Scarboro had their say on the winners and losers. Not that we give a shit. Here is our take.

Obama received mix messages. Many found him reluctant and milquetoast, trying too hard to maintain his status quo as the up-and-comer and drastically afraid to say something stupid when his already-strong momentum is crucial in catching Hillary Rodham in the first two weeks of February 2008. Yet there were plenty of others, like Chris Matthews, who found him sophisticated and deep. Then there was John Edwards who found him "high falutin'" or some such. HRC seemed to get positive reviews across the board, and that comes as no surprise. If you are looking for a careful, intelligent, centrist candidate she is your person. As a result, she will do well in every debate. This one was no different. Edwards was also mixed. He is hard to dislike with his old southern charm and $400 good looks. He also took it to the rest of the big 3 more than any of his compatriots (Barack and HRC, that is), but that awkward pause in the moral leader question certainly didn't help him. While we are on it, I reallllly felt that Obama looked around before raising his hand on the "global war on terror" question. Bush league. That was certainly my biggest critique.

Of the second tier, Billy Rich was the clear loser. He couldn't keep his words under control and he was gesticulating like a Valley Girl. Plus he appeared to be sweating profusely. Dodd was uneventful. Biden did well, but that is no surprise. Biden is a tight dude. Everyone loved his "Yes" answer, and his silver-haired patrician looks, and he certainly has good things to say. He is a longshot to win the nomination, but I presume he will come out of this fray with goodwill from a large faction of Americans. Meanwhile, someone in the blogosphere finally picked up on our friend at BHC's mantra that Kucinich deserves respect on account of his wife. She certainly towered over him on the stage last night. But seriously, Kucinich was arguably the biggest winner of the night from our vantage. He really brought the Quabbin Qabin down with his story about living in the same $22.5K Cleveland house that he bought in the early 90s. Take that, Edwards and Clinton! Imagine if Kerry was in the house. He spoke forcefully about the war, and his pocket Constitution gimmick was endearing, if a little contrived. Lastly, Gravel is a kook and need not be included in any more debates. In other words, bring out the hook!

Speaking abruptly from the Haymarket before it closes, we look forward to more debate. Stay legit.

48 Million Reasons to Be Afraid

Today's Fix posted HRC's modest first quarter earnings at $26,000,000. Yeah, that's in millions, and yeah, that is only since January 20, 2007. The official HRC website reminds us that "in March of 2003, the highest total reported by a Democratic campaign in its first-quarter fundraising report was $7.4 million and the top four candidates combined raised just over $23 million." In other words, we can and will whore like never before! On the same day, Clinton finance chairman Terry "the snake" McAulliffe sets the artificial standards of competition high saying, "I would expect Senator Obama is going to have a comparable amount of money to what we have." Let's hope not.
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breaking news
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Even as we speak here at 3Q, rumours have it that Obamamania may have contributed a nearly-identical $21-22M. All this is very disheartening, especially in light of the news that so many states are frontloading primaries on their own terms. Has year-and-a-half-in-advance pocketbook voting replaced the polls in primaries? Poor John Edwards ($14M), and poorer Chris Dodd ($4M)! I guess it shows something that tens of thousands of people are willing to part ways with his money so soon, I just don't know if it is more to do with candidate support or Thomas Tusser. Let's face it, I'd rather spend my money on supporting my local barkeep, or at least buying up conservation land. I am very fearful of this cycle of doom where campaign cash gets tossed around like $100 bills at a Pacman Jones stripper party. Let's make it rain with handshakes and not phone banks.

Instead I will have to stay refreshed with Chuck Klosterman's Final Four bloggings, where the topic of the day is a rant about the McLaughlin Group. More on refreshiness later.

Signing off with a Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout,
BTB

Lodi Doddi

It was a big week in politics, and a rude awakening to Quabbin Qountry about the difficulty of being a part-time blogger. I was so preoccupied with track practice, a New Yorker article about Dem hopefuls, unexpected dates and, hell, even a smutty Stranger article, that the next thing I knew it was Saturday, mid-way through the third quarter of the Ravens-Colts game and I was in a horrible mood about Purple's inability to find the end zone. This doesn't even begin to take into account the numerous newspaper profiles and blog entries in this week's Times and Post. A couple of Keystone Reds later, I knew my only hope was to walk out to my automobile and coast all the way down Gulf Hill at speeds no less than 45mph and find the nearest internet cafe.

I guess to cover the basics, it would be important to mention that one of New England's invisible Senator's has officially announced his entry into the 2008 campaign. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), although the Nutmeg State's senior senator, has been relatively unknown outside of political circles for much of his twenty-six years in the more deliberative body. He is the son of a Senator with a ready-made politician's c.v. including two years in the Peace Corps, six years in the army and the rest in elected office. I love Connecticut and all, but it sounds pretty boring from here. On the bright side, the guy was born in Willimantic and lives in my fantasy basketball haven of Haddam, is known for his sharp wit and at one point in the late 80's as a womanizer side-by-side with Teddy K.

Conventional wisdom has it these days, that Denver will host the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The Rocky Mountain Front is in the "Hickenloop", so to speak. Seeking to reach out to those stubborn Westerners, expect a lot of "cowboy" patterned shirts and major speaking parts by Jon Tester, Ken Salazar, Mark Udall and Bill Richardson. Holy Shit, LoDo is going to be off the hook that week. The last night I recall being in Denver, I was sobbing and nearly passed out drunk on the sidewalk of South 14th and Champa Street, having just tipped over on my bike. The night in question was November 2, 2004. This time it is just the beginning, at the Pepsi Center. You say you want a Revolution? Well, you know, we all want to change the world.

Alas, there is a lot to catch up on, and cold days ahead may prove just cozy enough to provide the time and the place. In the meantime, Go 'Hawks!!

Ahoy,
BTB