Welcome to the Dodd Squad
A campaign never rests, not even on Christmas day. Upon landing in Iowa, I met up with the campaign at a Des Moines ice skating rink where a press gaggle observed Senator Dodd, his wife, children, and staffers enjoying an unseasonably warm and sunny afternoon on the ice. The Senator took questions from the press and schmoozed with locals, taking advantage of another opportunity to connect with Iowans. NPR, CNN, and assorted newspapers circled the rink, taking photos and videos of the lighthearted campaign event. The campaign got great press from the event as the low-key event dominated local political news with little to report during Christmas day.
Des Moines, Iowa awoke from its Christmas slumber Wednesday morning to a fresh batch of phone calls from the Presidential candidates’ campaigns. At the Dodd campaign, the day was devoted to encouraging undecided voters to attend some of the Senator’s last few events before the get-out-the-vote (GOTV) push. Amongst the volunteers, the atmosphere was simply electric, as the mostly college-aged kids made phone-calls from noon through the dinner hours encouraging voters to come out and meet the Senator. Reinforcement volunteers trickled into the campaign office throughout the day, some coming from Connecticut, others from the Washington, D.C. campaign headquarters. Some of Dodd’s Senate staffers have even taken time off to volunteer on the campaign.
Iowans are getting dozens of phone calls each day as all eight Democratic candidates jam the phone lines in the final days before the caucus. Reactions range from the exasperated to the excited. Voters often express warm feelings towards Senator Dodd, but feel disinclined to support him at the caucus, fearing that he will lack viability (in the Iowa caucus, 15% or more of caucus-goers in a precinct must support a candidate for him/her to be considered viable).
