This month's Daily Kos straw poll saw Chris Dodd surge 5% -- a result that I, Tim Tagaris, and all my other colleagues on the Dodd campaign are very happy to see. But looking at the comments on the poll, there remains an all-too common sentiment in the Daily Kos community.
I really like Dodd, and think he would be an outstanding President, but, he's not a viable candidate
I have to say this is a common sentiment in these parts. All I can say is this: why in the world would you want to disempower yourself and this community by trying to pick a winner now when you have the ability to make one yourself?
Senator Dodd often says that there are two types of people...
On the one side, there are those who want to pick a winner in a political race, to show that they are great prognosticator and ensure that they get on the winning side and look really smart once the votes are tallied. On the other side are people that look at a field of candidates and decide who they want to help make a winning candidate. They decide by finding the candidate who they most agree with on the issues and who they think will be there, standing side by side with his base during the race and into office.
Which kind of person are you? Do you want to pick a winner? Or do you want to make a winner?
At the end of the day, the only pundit who matters is you. Do you agree with what a candidate is saying? Do you think someone is leading the ideas race, even if their leadership in the things you care about isn't reflected in the latest Gallup poll?
Chris Dodd is using his campaign to lead on ending the Iraq war now - by setting a date certain for withdrawal and enforcing that deadline by cutting off funding. Dodd is standing with and for the majority of Americans who want Congress to end the war -- and that means he's not going to vote for a bad bill that does nothing to end the war through the Congressional powers of the purse.
The people who share these views and want to see a Democratic nominee who is leading on the issues now are making Chris Dodd viable by standing up with their support. Dodd's at 7% this month in no small part because Kossacks are looking at him and liking what they see.
If you like Dodd, if you want to elect someone who will restore the Constitution, if you want to vote for someone who's leading the fight to end the war in Iraq by cutting off funding now, and who will enact a corporate carbon tax to make polluting too costly for polluters, then now is the time to get on board with Chris Dodd's campaign for President. You want a candidate who you won't have to apologize for and with Chris Dodd, you can know that you're getting a leader for you
Our campaign can't succeed without the support of Democratic activists like you. If you choose to decide what to do along the guidelines that Charlie Cook and Tim Russert want you to use, well, I promise that you'll be missing your opportunity to make the next President. But if you want to make a President, then now is the time to come help Chris Dodd's campaign.
We just jumped 5% in the Kos straw poll and I can promise you that the 7% of Kos voters who want Chris Dodd to be President are not picking him because Chris Matthews or Charlie Cook or Bob Novak told them he was the most electable Democrat. They're voting for Dodd because he is leading on the issues now and has repeatedly stood up for the Democratic base -- for ending the Iraq war, restoring the Constitution, from Bill O'Reilly's attacks and from John Cornyn's smears.
So please, come on over and join the Dodd Squad or make a small-dollar donation. We need your support and you need a candidate worth believing in.
Disclaimer #1:
I proudly work for Chris Dodd's presidential campaign.
Disclaimer #2:
I want to be clear that I'm not speaking for the entire Daily Kos community here. There are many active, committed partisans for John Edwards, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bill Richardson. I am not in any way trying to impugn your judgment - unless you've made your pick based on a metric of electability and viability. If you haven't, more power to you and I'll see you on the campaign trail. If electability or viability is what's keeping you in someone else's camp, I invite you to take the time to reconsider and join a campaign that you can help make into a winner.