From NBC/NJ’s Mike Memoli
WEEKEND DODD NOTEBOOK
CONCORD, N.H., Nov. 3 -- Dodd argued that voters should pay as much attention to a candidate's track record as they do to their plans for the future, and said that the nation needs a leader who has experience working across party lines.
Speaking to residents of a retirement community here, Dodd said that campaigning "involves more than just going down a list of issues," but looking also at "more profound questions" we ask of a person who would become president. Saying there will likely be an issue that arises early in the term of the next president "that will never come up" in the campaign, Americans "want to know how you're gonna handle that, when that unpredictable problem arrives at your doorstep." "Where's the measure of the individual, that we have the confidence you'll do a good job on behalf of our country," he asked.
The five-term Connecticut senator focused on what he said are his two key issues: respecting the Constitution, and keeping the nation safe. And to move forward on those issues, he said the next president has to be able to "bridge that gap" between the two parties, given the "sense of frustration" Americans feel about problems in Washington.
Asked by a member of the audience how he would do that when he takes office, Dodd said the best answer he could give "is what I've done." And he hinted at some disappointment that his resume is being overlooked in the campaign so far.
"This is the only job that I know of in America where you don't have to have any references," he said. "If someone's gonna remodel your bathroom or your kitchen you want to know have they ever done this before. … When it comes to the presidency, we just kind of listen to your speeches about the future, and no one ever asks, 'By the way, have you ever done any of this before?'"
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http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/04/447198.aspx
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