Report from Chris Dodd's event in Pleasantville

On the second leg of the blogging triatholon we are at the Pleasantville Elementary School to see Chris Dodd on his River to River bus tour. The local Lions group is selling a lunch of BBQ sandwiches, chips, and potato salad. About 100 people are eating lunch in the school gym and waiting for the candidate to arrive. We are told by a staffer that his bus has just arrived and he is meeting people in the parking lot.

Chris Dodd arrives with his wife and two daughters. They spend time talking to the people who are here on an informal basis. He has about 20 staffers that are with him. I expected Sen. Dodd to speak first and then go around and shake hands. However, he is going around the room and making sure he shakes hands with everyone who is here.

A man at the table I am sitting at tells Sen. Dodd that someone needs impeach Cheney. Dodd responds by saying there are so many issues we need to address that we need to ask if we should spend 18 months on impeachment procedures. He talks about the disregard of the law by this administration from habeas corpus to the entire Libby thing. He pulls out his copy of the constitution that he carries in his pocket everyday.


Sen. Dodd isn’t going to be speaking to the entire crowd. Instead he sits down at a table and 25 or so people gather around. They talk for about a half an hour. Later Dodd is asked by the local press about the style of these meet and greets instead of the basic speeches. He says people appreciate a candidate that takes the time sit down and listen to them. He finds that people tell him their stories about health care, education, and veterans issues and he learns a great deal when he does these type events. People get a better feeling about the candidate when they can look in their eyes and shake their hands. People are able to interact with the candidates instead of just the 2 minutes they get while standing in line at larger events.

I tell Sen. Dodd that I am a teacher and ask about No Child Left Behind. Dodd says the last 3 Congress’s he has introduced the No Child Left Behind Reform Act. He says to check his website for all of the information. He says the goals of NCLB are good. However we are not measuring growth and not connecting the dots. The current tests just look at one bubble in time. He says we need to measure a students growth from September to May. We need to be investing in schools that don't do well instead of shutting them down. Sen. Dodd's answer was very thorough. He knows what he is talking about on education.

I also had the chance to talk to Matt Browner-Hamlin, the blogger for Dodd's campaign. We talked about the growth of the Iowa blogosphere and about blogs in other states. He says 2004 was about the large national blogs dictating what was happening. 2006 was about the large national blogs influencing the local blogs. However, 2008 will be about the local blogs influencing the the large national blogs. Matt thought Iowa blogs have a great chance to build a strong blogging community by covering events like these.

**Update**
Browner-Hamlin was telling me about D-TV. D-TV displays video clips from the campaign and has live feed from Dodd's headquarters and from the campaign trail. That means tomorrow and Saturday you can watch Dodd's events with Paul Simon live on D-TV.