Chris Dodd

Chris Dodd is making the most of the last days before the First in the Nation Iowa Caucuses begin. However, many people may not be paying that much attention. Many people (myself included) have a hard time distinguishing Mr. Dodd and his look-alike candidate Joe Biden. However, the two Democrats would like to get past being candidates who “cancel each other out.”

Dodd will be spending the next week canvassing the state of Iowa and reaching out to voters in this month before the caucus. With stops in Pella, Oskaloosa, Cedar Falls, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Johnston and Iowa City, Dodd certainly may see more of Iowa than some life-long residents do. However, is his exposure to Iowa voters going to win him votes?

Especially for students, it is hard to see past the shiny candidates like Obama, Giuliani, Clinton and Romney; all with large amounts of money and funding to get their message to the young, media savvy demographic. However, Dodd a Senior Senator from Connecticut has spent years in government and heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Although he may not be as glamorous or as newsworthy as some of his opponents, his stance on ending the war and creating a safer environment are things that students can relate to.

Dodd’s father was one of the lead prosecutors in the criminal trials at Nuremberg and helped to “set the standard for America’s moral authority.” His inspiration from his father, outlined in his book Letters from Nuremberg, he developed his own stance on foreign relations as well as human rights. Dodd also spend time in the Peace Corps during the late sixties that taught him about open engagement with all nations. Although he acknowledges that there are pressing issues with the war in Iraq there are also issues such as the world struggle with HIV/AIDS that needs as much attention.

Also, Dodd touches on the energy crisis on his “issues” page; but lets face it, no viable candidate wouldn’t since Green issues seem to be a necessity in this election. Dodd proposes a Corporate Carbon Tax to keep companies accountable for their emissions as well as his projection to be independent from foreign oil by 2015. Although these are lofty goals they are something that will certainly appeal to the post Inconvenient Truth electorate.

Even though Dodd seems to be flying under the radar and may have little chance of winning the party’s nomination; his experience is nothing to look down upon. It makes me wonder why some of the most experienced, probably most qualified candidates for the presidency seem to be sitting at the bottom of the nomination? Lets just hope whomever wins give some of them a place in the Cabinet.