In a move that surprised fewer and excited fewer, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd declared his candidacy for President in 2008. This gives him plenty of time to withdraw early and beat the rush but as we noted previously his Chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee gives him direct access to big-money donors who will be needing his help and good will.
Rachel Kapochunas of Congressional Quarterly has the details:
In an interview on the "Imus In the Morning" radio show, Dodd said he was filing candidacy papers with the Federal Election Commission. "I want to skip this exploratory phase a lot of people go through and become a full-fledged candidate for the presidency," he said.
Dodd is the fifth Democrat to officially declare his candidacy, following announcements by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee; retiring Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack; Ohio Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich; and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel.
Read the whole report at the above link. For all his decades in Washington, Dodd joins the large group of Senators running for President without the most fundamental of qualifications for the office: he's never run any operation larger than his Senate staff, but wants to start learning management at the top of the largest enterprise in the world.
At this point, though, it seems everyone in Washington, DC, and half of the rest of the country will be running for President in 2008. Most of them will be no less qualified than Dodd.
Permalink | Send To A Friend | Linking Blogs | Digg this!
Filed under:
2006 Senate Race, Dodd
Tags: 2008, Dodd, presidential campaign
