Today Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd expressed his opposition to the reported Levin-Reed legislation: "Rather than picking up votes, by removing the deadline to get our troops out of Iraq you have lost this Democrat's vote. Despite the fact that this has been the bloodiest summer of the war and report after report says that there has been little to no political progress, the White House continues to argue that their strategy is working. It is clear that half measures are not going to stop this President or end this war. I cannot and will not support any measure that does not have a firm and enforceable deadline to complete the redeployment of combat troops from Iraq. Only then will Congress be able to send a clear message to the President that we are changing course in Iraq, and a message to the Iraqis that they need to get their political house in order. I urge my colleagues to join me and declare their opposition to this measure.
Dean Barker of Blue Hampshire answers "why not?"
Why Dodd? There are three fundamental reasons, but in the end it comes down to this. Chris Dodd is the strongest proponent of the progressive issues that matter most to me, and I trust him to carry those issues forward as President.I'll start with what I believe to be the single most critical issue facing our country: the very survival of our Constitution.
. . . One of the central planks of Chris Dodd's campaign is restoring the Constitution. Others mention it, but he has put it front and center, and led on it. And this was the video that essentially sealed the deal for me.The question I keep coming back to is this: what will the next president, Democrat or Republican, do with the dangerously expanded executive branch powers that will be Bush and Cheney's legacy? With Dodd, I know I will be getting a person with a lifetime of public service and a deep respect for the rule of law.
Now, onto the single most important issue facing our world - climate change. Senator Dodd's energy plan is the boldest out there, and it merits lots of praise. Roger Ballentine, former Chair of the Clinton White House Climate Change Task Force, calls it " "Courageous... the gold standard against which all plans will be measured."
One reason for the accolades on the other end of the link up above is that he is the only candidate calling for a corporate carbon tax. Guess who likes that idea? [Al Gore does.] . . .
The third major reason I am convinced I have made the right choice to go with Dodd is that on many issues, but most emphatically the war in Iraq, he has been leading right now. As early as last December, when I saw him at State Senator Peter Burling's house, he was opposing the surge in the most strident terms. And Senator Dodd neither flinched nor waited to see which way the wind would blow to speak out strongly against voting for more funding for this nightmare of a war.
. . . Why, out of such a strong field of candidates, Senator Chris Dodd? I reply simply with, why not Dodd?
What Dean said. Now a few words of "advice" for Senator Dodd on the flip.
This September there is one issue paramount on my mind, and I believe, the minds of Democrats everywhere - Iraq. Today's NYTimes reports:
With a mixed picture emerging about progress in Iraq, Senate Democratic leaders are showing a new openness to compromise as they try to attract Republican support for forcing at least modest troop withdrawals in the coming months.. . . Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, said, "If we have to make the spring part a goal, rather than something that is binding, and if that is able to produce some additional votes to get us over the filibuster, my own inclination would be to consider that." . . . Mr. Levin, who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee and who met Wednesday with Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said a compromise may be worth making. It would allow Congress to assert its own voice on Iraq policy, after falling short of that goal in most such votes throughout the year, he said. . . .
Senator Dodd needs to lead now against the uttterly failing leadership of Senator Carl Levin whose 2007 performance on Iraq has been nothing short of disastrous. In March 2003, Howard Dean made his mark in Democratic politics in an indelible manner:
What I want to know is why in the world the Democratic party leadership is supporting the president's unilateral attack on Iraq.
Carl Levin and most Democrats claim that they believe that it is in the best interest of the United States for the Iraq Debacle to be ended. What I want to know is why in the world Democrats who claim to want the United States military involvement in the Iraq Debacle to end would consider voting to continue it past a date certain.
Senator Chris Dodd needs to demonstrate leadership now by challenging his colleagues like Senator Carl Levin and ask them why Democrats who state that they believe the Iraq Debacle must end would continue to fund it past a date certain.
Leadership now Senator Dodd. That is what we who support you expect.
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