Dodd Adds Iowa Offices, Staff

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 584

From the inbox:

The Dodd for President campaign today announced the statewide leadership team that will head up Chris Dodd’s Iowa Caucus field campaign at the Des Moines headquarters and in regional offices throughout the state.

“This is a strong, energetic team that is taking Chris Dodd’s Iowa campaign to the next level,” said Iowa State Director Marc Beltrame.

“With their leadership in every part of the state, we can reach out to Iowa caucus-goers right in their communities and continue building a truly statewide organization from the grassroots up.”

The Dodd campaign’s Iowa field operation is overseen by Iowa Field Director Ben Rohrbaugh. Rohrbaugh came to the Dodd campaign following a successful run as the Field Director for Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle. He has previously served on Congresswoman Melissa Bean’s re-election campaign, the Christine Jennings recount in Florida, and the John Kerry campaign in Michigan.

David Joseph serves as the campaign’s Iowa Director of Voter Contact. Joseph most recently served as the DCCC’s Indiana Director of Finance and Voter Contact for the successful campaigns of Congressmen Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth, and Baron Hill. He previously served on John Kerry’s campaign in Michigan and Dick Gephardt’s Iowa Caucus bid.

Regional Field Directors will be establishing campaign offices throughout the state and coordinating local campaign and volunteer activities in their respective regions.

Northwest Iowa Regional Field Director:Mario Piscatella. Piscatella most recently served as Senior Advisor and Strategic Director for Pete Ashdown's U.S. Senate campaign in Utah.

Southwest Iowa Regional Field Director: Greg Neil. Neil has previously served as a Field Organizer for Indiana Congressman Baron Hill and Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle.

North Central Iowa Regional Field Director: John Yaggi. Yaggi has served on the campaigns of Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lunsford, Indiana Congressman Baron Hill, and Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle.

Polk County Regional Field Director: Justin Lindsay. Lindsay has previously directed field and coordinated field programs in Michigan, as well as working on the John Kerry campaign in Michigan and the Christine Jennings recount effort in Florida.

Waterloo-Mason City Regional Field Director: Rich Wilkins. Wilkins has previously served on several state and federal campaigns in Pennsylvania, as well as John Kerry’s presidential campaign in that state.

Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Regional Field Director: Ben Young. Young previously worked for Arkansas Congressman Marion Berry, as well as on the campaigns of Indiana Congressman Baron Hill and Arkansas Congressional candidate Jan Judy.

Northeast Iowa Regional Field Director: Kevin McTigue. McTigue previously served as a field coordinator for Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s re-election, Field Director for Virginia Delegate Vivian Watts, and Michigan Volunteer Coordinator for John Kerry.

Southeast Iowa Regional Field Director: Chris Bowen. Bowen, a native of Burlington, Iowa, most recently served as a Regional Field Director for the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2006 coordinated campaign. He previously worked for Iowa Governor Chet Culver’s primary campaign and for the New Jersey Democratic Party.

Lots of Michigan and Kerry connections in this crew.

This is a pretty ambitious move, and appears to indicate that Dodd is going for broke before he...well...goes broke. He's likely to again show poorly when the current fundraising quarter ends June 30, and if he doesn't get something going here in Iowa between now and Labor Day, it's over. Here's wishing him luck. Dodd's got some good policy ideas on carbon emissions and civil liberties that should remain in the debate as we move toward the caucuses.

Town Hall Envy

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 585

It no doubt sounded good at the beginning: "We'll move our state's primary up closer to January, and we'll have the same influence in picking a nominee as Iowa and New Hampshire. Candidates will spend time here, meet voters here, and will have to pay attention to our issues, just like they do in Iowa and New Hampshire. Yeah, that's the ticket!"

However, with the bandwagon creaking under the load of so many states moving their primaries ever earlier in the calendar, the flaws in this line of thinking are making themselves increasingly plain. The unintended consequence of all this year's political leapfrogging is that as more states move up their primaries the traditional campaign dynamics that were originally meant to be overthrown are becoming only more entrenched.

The definitive case in point: California. According to an article in today's Los Angeles Times, rather than producing a string of meet and greet town hall-style events, or resulting in candidates spending oodles more time out west, the change in California's primary date has turned out to reinforce the importance of media, rather than personal appearances by candidates at town halls or even large rallies, in reaching voters. Campaigning via television and radio has increased, not decreased. And the main thing that candidates are looking for in the Golden State? It isn't face time with voters - it's campaign cash to spend other places...like financing their ground games in (surprise!) Iowa and New Hampshire.

The Washington Post sums it up rather well:

"Most political observers believe that the newly frontloaded campaign schedule will primarily benefit front-runners who are able to collect the huge sums of cash needed to finance massive television ad campaigns spanning the three weeks between the Iowa caucuses and the large cluster of primaries on Feb. 5. There will also be pressure on candidates to operate costly and exhausting bi-coastal campaigns, to try to simultaneously drive up their numbers in the Northeast and Midwest and in the far West and Southwest.

"The counter-argument to the idea that the new calendar has created a de facto national primary is that with so many expensive states crowded into late January and early February the only possible way for a candidate to reach potential voters is through the blitz of media coverage that traditionally follows a win or stronger than expected showing in Iowa or New Hampshire."

Much has been written about the flaws of having Iowa and New Hampshire exert the influence they do on who becomes president, and many of the arguments for changing the primary system to lessen the influence of these two states have merit. But, as we're beginning to see, changing the political landscape will take more than states acting separately to promote their own clout - and this includes Iowa and New Hampshire - at the expense of others. What is required is a rational, fair, and cooperative approach that balances the competing interests of individual states with the common interests of all. A compromise, in other words. This is politics, after all.

[UPDATED] Bill Richardson Back in Des Moines June 22

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 586

New Mexico governor and Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson will be returning to Des Moines next Friday, June 22. The headline event for Richardson's Iowa swing will be the grand opening of his Iowa campaign HQ at 601 SW 9th Street, Suite K, Des Moines (South of MLK on SW 9th, North of the Racoon River Bridge, across from Taco Bell and the BP gas station - I'd give latitude and longitude, but the iPol GPS satellite system is down at the moment). Richardson will be on hand to personally launch the new HQ, and will be meeting and greeting from 5:00 - 6:30 PM.

The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served. I'll be there, of course; maybe I can finally get an answer to the "If you were a tree..." question.

In addition to the festivities at the Des Moines HQ, Richardson's campaign is also simulcasting the event to its field offices around the state. Here's the contact info:

Southeast Regional Field Office
2302 ½ E. 11th St. #3
Davenport, IA 52803
(563) 324-0523

East Regional Field Office
Cypress Plaza
4350 16th Ave. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
(319) 390-3277

Northeast Regional Field Office
919 W. 4th St.
Waterloo, IA 50702
(319) 234-9966

West Regional Field Office
1760 N. 16th St., Suite 103
Council Bluffs, IA 51501
(712) 352-0890


UPDATE: Richardson will also be doing a "Cookies and Conversation" event on June 22 at Drake University at 11:30 a.m. in Aliber Hall, to be followed by a media availability at 12:15. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. To reserve a spot, call (515) 271 -3747 or email your name and number of seats required to Iowacaucuses@drake.edu.

Candidate Open Thread: Hillary Clinton

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 586

Something new here on the site: open threads, posts where you do the talking. The idea is that you leave a comment on the topic of the day, trade views with others, and generally engage in healthy debate on line.

The only hard and fast rule: play nice. Trolls won't be tolerated.

Today's topic: Hillary Clinton. No shortage of opinions about her bouncing around the blogosphere, so have at it!

"Close Guantanamo. Not Tomorrow, But This Afternoon."

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 589

Wow. Read these words of a prominent public figure regarding the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba:

"'If it was up to me, I would close Guantanamo. Not tomorrow, but this afternoon. I'd close it. And I would not let any of those people go. I would simply move them to the United States and put them into our federal legal system. The concern was, well then they'll have access to lawyers, then they'll have access to writs of habeas corpus. So what? Let them. Isn't that what our system is all about?

'I would also do it because every morning, I pick up a paper and some authoritarian figure, some person somewhere, is using Guantanamo to hide their own misdeeds. And so essentially, we have shaken the belief that the world had in America's justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like the military commission.

'We don't need it, and it's causing us far more damage than any good we get for it.'"

The bleeding heart defeatist liberal who spoke these words: none other than Colin Powell, appearing yesterday on Meet the Press. Yes, that Colin Powell. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Former Secretary of State under George W. Bush. Yep. Him.

This argument is so over.

Dodd Cancels This Weekend's Iowa Campaign Swing

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 592

Just got word that Chris Dodd has "an unexpected and severe case of the stomach flu" and won't be making his previously announced visit to Iowa this weekend. The following planned events have been cancelled:

Saturday, June 9

10:30AM Waterloo Community Kitchen Table
Location: Steamboat Gardens Family Restaurant
1740 Falls Avenue
Waterloo

12:00 Noon Kitchen Table with the Knitting Ladies of Waverly
Location: Home of Wendy Kepford
322 2nd Avenue
Waverly

3:00PM Mason City Town Hall
Location: Chicago Dog Pizza
687 Taft Street
Mason City

6:30PM Sioux City Democrats Truman Club Meeting


Sunday, June 10

10:00AM Cathedral of the Epiphany Street Fair
Location: Cathedral of the Epiphany
1011 Douglas Street
Sioux City

12:30PM Sioux City Town Hall
Location: Morningside College
Elwood and Grace Olsen Student Center Yockey Student Room
3609 Peters Ave.
Sioux City

Romney Campaign Chair Rips Iowa GOP Rank and File

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 593

Today's Washington Post ran a great article on the movers and shakers at senior levels in campaigns on both the Democratic and Republican sides in Iowa. Reading through the article, I came across one quote that made me actually gasp, from Mitt Romney's Iowa Campaign Chairman, Des Moines attorney Doug Gross:

"As Romney's Gross sees it, it is best to go after party regulars. 'What you're getting into here is a college student-council race. You have to get the big sororities and fraternities to show up for you,' says the genial 52-year-old, whose 20th-story office looks across at the state Capitol's gold dome. 'The rest of the people won't even know what's going on.'"

Maybe Gross is right, and ordinary Iowa Republican voters are ignorant of what's going on in their own state party. I am not a Republican, obviously, and can't speak for anyone on that side, but if somebody from a Democratic campaign made this statement about me as an ordinary voter, I would be more than a little irate about being written off as too stupid to bother with. I might even vow to back anyone but that campaign's candidate, just to get my point across.

Moderators in Moderation

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 596

Nothing earthshattering in last night's debate, but the Dodd campaign sent along their tally of who spoke for how long, which I find interesting:

- Senator Biden: 7:58, 10 questions
- Senator Clinton: 14:26, 15 questions
- Senator Dodd: 8:28, 9 questions
- Senator Edwards: 11:42, 13 questions
- Senator Gravel: 5:37, 10 questions
- Congressman Kucinich: 9:02, 9 questions
- Senator Obama: 16:00, 16 questions
- Governor Richardson: 10:48, 11 questions
- Wolf Blitzer: 13:24

Judging from these numbers, it seems clear that CNN's focus in last night's debate was on Clinton and Obama...and Wolf Blitzer. Not that Wolf didn't do an okay job as moderator, I guess, but when he gets as much mic time as two of the actual candidates (Dodd and Gravel) combined, something is out of whack.

The Candidate I'll Be Supporting for President

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 599

Since starting this blog this past January, I’ve had the opportunity to meet, or at least shake hands with, every candidate in the Democratic field who has made a visit to Iowa. I’ve heard their ideas, or at least their rhetoric. I’ve had a chance to see how they perform in front of crowds large and small. I’m as star-struck by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as moved by the personal story of John Edwards, as impressed by the résumé of Bill Richardson, and appreciative of the Senate careers of Joe Biden and Chris Dodd, as anybody. I’ve heard the policy speeches on Iraq and health care, climate change and energy. I’ve been on the conference calls with the candidates, and heard them make the case about why they are uniquely qualified to lead the United States at this critical moment in history. I’ve watched the debates. I’ve sized them up, weighed the pros and cons, scrutinized their records. I’ve looked them in the eye, and taken the temperature of the fire in their bellies.

I now have to face the question of whether the time has come to declare support for one candidate above the others.

I’m happy to say this is not an easy choice to make. The Democratic roster this cycle is arguably the most impressive ever fielded by the party. Any one of the candidates I mention above could legitimately serve as president, and would do a better job of it than any Republican candidate this cycle, and, I need hardly say, the current incumbent. And, to an unusual degree, they all will have a future in national politics and running for the White House again after the 2008 election is over. In my view, however, one stands above the rest on experience, on leadership, on political courage, on character and integrity, and the strength of the ideas they have brought to this campaign.

Today, I am proud to announce that I support (insert name here) for President of the United States.

Okay, so I’ve been playing with you a little bit in this post. But I do have a serious point to make. While a number of others in the Iowa Democratic blogosphere have already thrown their support to a given candidate, or at least voted one or more off the island, I think it’s too early to jump quite yet. This is not only because we still have many months to go before caucus night, but also – and perhaps more to the point – because I haven’t actually seen what I think is the best shot from any of the candidates. Not yet. The candidates and their staffs are all out there working hard, and none of them, I’m convinced, is in this for any other reason than to win. But the day when the message, the moment and the candidate click together to lock in not just my approval, not just my respect, but my gut-level conviction that no one else but they will do as my choice for president, has yet to arrive.

So here’s my point, made to both the candidates and their staffs: there are more undecideds here in Iowa than you may think. And we’re waiting. On you. To win us over.

Keep coming to Iowa. Keep working hard. And then find the moment when you go beyond the ordinary day-to-day of the campaign, and show us greatness. Show us greatness on experience, on leadership, on political courage, on character and integrity, and the strength of the ideas you bring to this campaign. And I promise you, when that moment comes, we will, in our blogs, in our letters to the editor, in our canvassing, phone banking, fundraising, event attendance, and every other campaign capacity you can think of, show greatness right back to you.

And that is how we will win, both in Iowa next January, and across the country the following November.

A moment yet to come. A moment that will be. I can’t wait!

Dodd to Introduce Iraq Redeployment Legislation

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 600

At 4:00 CDT today, Chris Dodd will be doing a live blog event over at FireDogLake to discuss his plans to introduce an amendment to the upcoming Defense Authorization bill that would end American military involvement in Iraq. According to a press release from the Dodd campaign, the ammendment will:

• Immediately begin redeployment of U.S. combat troops.
• Set a firm deadline for completing redeployment by March 31, 2008.
• Provide no additional funding for combat operations after March 31, 2008.
• Hold the Bush Administration accountable during the redeployment period by requiring the Secretary of Defense to regularly report to Congress on the drawdown of forces.
• Institute measures that would make funding within the redeployment period contingent on the progress of phased redeployment.
• Restore the readiness of the military, Reserves and National Guard by transferring portions of monies that would have been available for combat activities.

"The current policy in Iraq has left us less secure and left our standing in the world in tatters. That is why we have to continue the fight to change course," Dodd said in a press release issued by the campaign. "The Dodd Amendment will improve accountability, provide a timetable for the Iraqi government to get its house in order, and safely and responsibly redeploy our troops and bring them home. Now is the time to responsibly bring an end to our involvement in another country's civil war while rebuilding our Reserve and Guard units."

Should be an interesting on-line event, so check it out. Again that's 4:00 CDT today at FireDogLake.