CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Chris Dodd formally put his name on New Hampshire’s primary ballot on Friday and relocated his family to Iowa, another sign he is leaning on key early states to boost his from-behind campaign.
Jackie Clegg Dodd and the couple’s two daughters have relocated to a Des Moines rental house for the remainder of the early nominating calendar, underscoring the emphasis Dodd is placing on traditional leadoff states. The Connecticut senator said he needs strong showings in those states, starting in Iowa, to best his better known rivals.
“It’s better than staying in a hotel. I decided, with kids in a hotel, I don’t want to be like (that),” Dodd said, noting family concerns.
“Moving kids all around, that’s not great. Grace just started school. She’s in kindergarten. We wanted some stability,” Dodd told reporters after a Divided We Fail forum.
Dodd spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said Dodd has 72 paid staffers in Iowa, many of whom started in New Hampshire before the campaign shifted most of its resources to Iowa. The shift in bodies is similar to one Sen. John Kerry made in the lead-up to the early voting in 2004.
“Clearly, moving resources around is very common,” said Dodd, whose senior adviser ran the first leg of Kerry’s campaign. “You’ve got to be there to come here.”
The campaign hopes a similar, strong showing in Iowa will propel him upward in polls, where he badly trails his better known rivals.
“You’ve got to move your resources around based on where the needs exist,” Dodd told reporters after turning in his paperwork and paying $1,000 to get on the New Hampshire ballot. “We’re all making the presumption that the first test will be in the caucuses in Iowa. We want to be out there and make sure we have the people on the ground to produce the kind of results we want on that night.”
Dodd said voters in the early states aren’t going to be fooled by celebrity and won’t believe Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s argument that her failed health care plan in the 1990s is a badge of honor or experience.
“I was there. I wasn’t a casual observer. I was a supporter. You can’t have secret plans in the White House and come out afterward and say you have to accept or reject this, it’s my way or the highway,” Dodd told New Hampshire Public Radio before his filing. “We didn’t get it done. That was 15 years ago. We paid an awful price for not getting it done.”
Dodd said Clinton is making a mistake by highlighting her own failures with health care.
“If you’re going to be in a national leadership positions, you have to assume responsibility here,” said Dodd, a 26-year veteran of the Senate. “It did happen. It fell apart. And it shouldn’t have.”
Dodd, who barely registers in polls and has seen lackluster fundraising, blasted his peers for not doing more to end the war and push back President Bush’s agenda.
“We’re trying too hard to get 51 votes and 60 votes,” Dodd said. “Be clear: it’s better to get 10 votes or 20 votes for clarity than it is to try to get 51 votes for something that doesn’t mean much to people.”
Dodd has vocally opposed the war and has introduced amendments to stop paying for it. He has hoped anti-war sentiment among Democratic primary voters might boost his campaign.
“I’m sick and tired of hearing people say ‘you’re putting the troops at risk.’ This doesn’t put the troops at risk,” Dodd said. “We’re obviously going to fund the safe and secure redeployment of our forces. But we need to be honest about what we can do.”
Dodd pointed to past candidates with anemic poll numbers, particularly Gary Hart, as hope.
“How was (Hart) doing prior to New Hampshire?” Dodd asked New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner.
“At this point he was in single digits,” said Gardner, a serious student of primary history who watched Dodd chat with reporters after he turned in his paperwork.
“I rest my case,” Dodd said.
AP-ES-10-19-07 1939EDT
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