Yesterday it was reported on political wire that Senator Dodd failed to file for ballot access in New York.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, trailing badly in the polls for the Democratic presidential nomination, failed to file to appear on the ballot in New York. This seems an odd choice for the senator from neighboring Connecticut where his profile is undoubtedly higher than elsewhere in the nation. The New York Democratic party requires 5,000 signatures to appear on the ballot. According to Ballot Access News, just six candidates met that requirement: Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Biden, Richardson, and Kucinich.
I have to admit when I first heard about this I just thought, wow that’s cool real live presidential candidates are coming to Connecticut for a debate. Alas, as I soon learned, it was actually going to be proxies instead. But still, an interesting format all the same. Having watched various televised debates, heavily scripted as they are, this would be a more free flowing debate style. One of the proxies, representing the Obama campaign is Norwalk’s Lex Paulson. Lex serves as the 4th CD chair of the Barack Obama campaign. So quite the Norwalk connection tonight. I’m not sure of Republicans in Connecticut are going to do something like this, but assume that its one of those regular presidential campaign.
Thankfully the Courant didn’t adopt the recent term “invaded” to describe the break-in. Few details have been reported, other than late Saturday night someone managed to get into Dodd’s Hartford office through a second story window. No one knows if anything is missing, but something was left behind.
Jamie Radice, a spokeswoman for Dodd, also declined to say if anything was taken and what was left behind.
“I can confirm there was a break-in last night and the police were called and an investigation is underway,” Radice said Sunday night.
Otherwise, she said, “I can’t speculate. I don’t really know what’s missing at this point.”
NEW YORK — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday switched his party status from Republican to unaffiliated, a stunning move certain to be seen as a prelude to an independent presidential bid that would upend the 2008 race.
The billionaire former CEO, who was a lifelong Democrat before he switched to the GOP for his first mayoral run, said the change in voter registration does not mean he is running for president.
Why else would he do it? And do it now? And who else will take the plunge?
Dodd says he’s the only candidate to stand up against Bush’s Iraq policy. “I’m fighting for the only responsible measure in Congress that would take away the President’s blank check and set a timetable to bring our troops home, unfortunately, my colleagues running for President have not joined me.” Sounds like he’s talking about fellow senators Clinton and Obama. Here’s the ad:
It doesn’t look good for Chris Dodd. He’s not getting the home state discount, er boost in numbers. The courant reports:
A new Quinnipiac poll released today showed that he’s only the fifth most popular Democratic presidential choice among the party’s state voters. Dodd got 6 percent in the survey, far behind front runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, who polled 28 percent.
Trailing the New York senator were Illinois Sen. Barack Obama at 20 percent, former Vice President Al Gore, who has not declared his candidacy, at 13 percent, and 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards, at 8 percent.
Today the Connecticut presidential primary is scheduled for March 4, but under a proposal from Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut could join California and other states by holding the primary on Feb. 5. A public hearing by the government administration and elections committee is planned for Friday.
The 2008 primary now scheduled for March 4 would be held Feb. 5, when 22 other states, including California, are scheduled to hold a primary or caucus.
Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz bemoaned the trend toward early primaries, but she said the presidential nominations will be settled on Feb. 5.
It wasn’t too long ago that Tom Dschle was painted as an “extreme liberal” during his last campaign. But those labels need no longer apply as he and three other former majority leaders from the Senate plan to create a “Bipartisan Policy Center.†The Wall Street Journal reports that they want “to encourage Republicans and Democrats to work together on national security, energy and agriculture issues. With funding from philanthropic organizations.”
The former Democratic leaders are Tom Daschle and George Mitchell, joined by Republicans Bob Dole and Howard Baker.
Newsweek is reporting that New York CIty Mayor Michael Bloomberg is looking at a third party bid for an ‘08 presidential run. According to Newsweek and MSNBC,
Privately, Bloomberg and political adviser Kevin Sheekey are meeting with pollsters and consultants to assess the mayor’s chances as a third-party, independent candidate. “There is no Bloomberg campaign,” Sheekey tells NEWSWEEK. “But we have certainly reached out.” At a dinner last year with Al From, founder of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, Bloomberg was candid and self-deprecating, wondering what chance a 5-foot-7, divorced Jew has in the celebrity-sweepstakes presidential contest.
