Dodd's Loss is the Party's Gain

POSTED BY Jonathan Backer, 05 January 2008

First off, major kudos to the household pictured above for correctly identifying the outcome of the Iowa caucuses. We all stand in awe of your omniscience. Now, onward, to brief wrap-up of my account of the first leg of the nomination process.

Naturally, the Dodd campaign was disappointed with the outcome. Surprisingly, 97% of the state delegates went to the three top-tier candidates after viability was determined. Governor Richardson and Joe Biden beat out Senator Dodd in gaining the remaining 3% of state delegates. In fact, Dodd only received one delegate from the entire caucus process. The one delegate came from Fayette County, in eastern Iowa, where the Dodd campaign expected to perform especially well. The staff grew increasingly demoralized as precinct captain after precinct captain called in to report the inability of the campaign to achieve viability at almost all of the caucus sites.

In an ordinary Iowa caucus, Dodd would have had enough support to attain viability in several precincts. Yet, this caucus was no ordinary caucus. Over 239,000 Iowans participated in the Democratic caucus, raising viability requirements far above what the campaign had projected and derailing the assumptions from which the campaign strategy was derived.

Yet, the high turnout, which precipitated the end of the Dodd candidacy also bodes enormously well for the Democratic Party. The fact that people who ordinarily do not participate in the political process were energized and excited to be a part of facilitating change in the country is extremely encouraging. While staffers were saddened by Senator Dodd’s swift withdrawal from the field of potential nominees, there was an underlying sense that whoever wins the nomination will benefit from an electorate that deeply and passionately wants to effect change.

Obama, Iowa, 2008, caucus, Dodd