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Dodd: Iowans can launch my campaign

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By Ed Tibbetts | Wednesday, January 2, 2008 12:52 AM CST | () comments

Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd laughs after meeting one of his younger supporters, Kaitlyn Wood, 3, of Eldridge, Iowa, whose father, Brian, is a Davenport firefighter and a precinct captain for the U.S. senator. The New Year’s Day stop at Kilkenny’s Pub in Davenport was Dodd’s last in the Quad-City area before Thursday’s Iowa caucuses. Buy this Photo

CLINTON, Iowa — U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd cited Mike Huckabee’s sudden rise to national prominence in the Republican presidential race to argue here Tuesday that Iowans could catapult his campaign if they just turn out for him Thursday night.

“If I get a ticket out of Iowa on Thursday night, I’ll be a household name by 8 o’clock Friday morning. Who had heard of Mike Huckabee 12 weeks ago,” Dodd asked a packed room at a restaurant here. “I’ll tell you what happened. A group of Iowans decided he was important enough to pay attention to and because they paid attention to him, the national media paid attention to him and all of a sudden he became a factor in the race.”

Dodd, a Connecticut senator, has spent months arguing his ample legislative record and bi-partisan appeal could make a good president. However, polls have showed him lagging.

Still, the Huckabee experience, Dodd said, proves that Iowans — if they choose to get past the celebrity and the desire to be with a front-runner — can have an impact.

He also had sharp words for some of his rivals for not going back to the Senate last month to block a bill that would’ve given telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for taking part in President Bush’s wiretapping program.

“They all went back for the farm bill because that was good politics in Iowa,” he said. “But if it’s all right for the farm bill, why not come back for the Constitution of the United States.“

Dodd was accompanied by several members of his family, including his wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, and their two daughters, Christina, 2, and Grace, 6. Dodd moved his family to Des Moines several months ago.

At one point, Christina drew laughter when she interrupted her mother’s remarks to tell her, “Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom.”

Dodd had two Quad-City area stops on his schedule, here and Kilkenny’s Pub in downtown Davenport.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at

(563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com. Comment on this article at qctimes.com.