An east coast senator with White House aspirations disputes the idea his Democratic party may be reluctant to nominate another east coast senator as its presidential nominee in 2008.
Conecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, who’s visiting Iowa this weekend, says people “could care less” about where a candidate is from. He says voters are looking for something different. “Tell me who you are. Tell me whether or not you know me and what I’m going through, what my family’s struggling with, whether or not we have the kind of resources to get a good education, have a pension, a decent job. Tell me how we can be more secure as a people,” Dodd says. “I may be interested in where you’re from, but I’m far more interested in you if you get those issues than what the geography is.”
Dodd says his party’s choices of former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter as its presidential nominee in 1976 and former Tennessee Senator and Vice President Al Gore in 2000 had nothing to do with where Carter and Gore were from. “It’s not about geography. It’s who you are, whether or not you connect with people,” Dodd says.
Dodd, like Massachusetts Senator John Kerry — the party’s 2004 presidential nominee, was in Iowa to campaign with Iowa Democrats on this November’s ballot. Dodd says if Democrats get the 2006 elections right then 2008 will “work” in the party’s favor. “We may have Democratic governors in all states west of the Mississippi with the exception of California, Idaho and Oklahoma,” Dodd says. “Of course, the one we’re watching as closely as ever (is the Iowa governor’s race). We say that Iowa is ‘ground zero.'”
Dodd campaigned Saturday with Chet Culver, the Democratic candidate for governor.