The 2008 presidential campaign of Chris Dodd was launched on January 11, 2007, and ended on January 3, 2008, after a sixth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. Dodd, the senior senator from Connecticut, sought the nomination of the Democratic Party for president of the United States. Centering his campaign in the states of Iowa and New Hampshire, he centred his campaign on the theme of change. Dodd's performance in the opinion polls varied, but in the financial sphere, he had secured some notable and influential endorsements who were the ones largely funding his campaign.

Dodd tried to follow in the pattern of New Englanders who entered the race for the Democratic nomination and won, including John Kerry, Michael Dukakis, and John F. Kennedy. If elected, Dodd would have become the second Roman Catholic president (after Kennedy) and the second Connecticut-born president (after George W. Bush). He would have been the first senator to win the presidency while in office since Kennedy was elected in 1960 (that honor ultimately went to Barack Obama). After his withdrawal from the race, Dodd went on to endorse the eventual winner Barack Obama, and retired from the Senate in 2011.

Background

During his years in the House and Senate, Dodd built a long record of political positions on important issues to the nation. He was in favor of ending the Iraq War and redeploying American soldiers from the nation elsewhere. He repeatedly voted against further funding of the war. To combat global warming, he proposed a carbon tax to reduce carbon emissions, and declared that the United States "must take a 'strategic pause'" before signing any new free trade agreement.

Domestically, Dodd proposed mandatory community service for all high school students, and fought to improve child care and health care, and worked to stop predatory lending by credit card companies. He also introduced legislation to enact a Federal Shield law and worked to defeat legislation permitting warrantless surveillance.

Dodd had told the Associated Press in April 2006 that he was considering running, and by May 22 he had met with key backers, including congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, and had assembled a team to prepare a potential 2008 campaign. In June 2006, he held his first major fundraiser, stunning Beltway commentators by raising over $1 million in one night. Dodd attended a Florida Democratic convention in July 2006 to garner further support. He hired former John Kerry campaign manager Jim Jordan in December of that year. Two months later, Dodd told the head of the New Hampshire Democratic Party at the Rainbow Cafe that he was not "going to do the exploratory thing" but instead "plunge right in" to the race.

On the campaign trail

January 2007

Date Location(s) Event(s) January 15 West Columbia, SC Columbia, SC Speeches, Appearance January 19 Hartford, CT Rally January 20 Dover, NH Deerfield, NH Henniker, NH Speech, Meeting, Appearance January 21 Hanover, NH Speech

Chris Dodd entered the race on January 11, 2007, after making his announcement on the Imus in the Morning show. He cited his qualifications of experience and background as the strengths needed to lead the nation as president. A critic of the Iraq War, Dodd stated that his candidacy "...isn't just [about] Iraq -- there are problems here at home that are huge." He decided not to file with the FEC under an exploratory committee but instead filed as a full-fledged candidate. He began campaigning in the state of South Carolina on January 15, 2007, and hit the trails to New Hampshire on January 20.

February 2007

Date Location(s) Event(s) February 15 Nashua, NH Portsmouth, NH Appearance, Meeting February 16 Bedford, NH Keene, NH Speech, Meeting February 19 Des Moines, IA Speech February 20 Iowa City, IA Cedar Rapids, IA Fundraiser, Meeting February 21 Carson City, NV Forum

In February, Dodd turned his attention fully to the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. When asked by the Associated Press on the campaign trail if his campaigning really made a difference in changing public perceptions, he replied, "There is enough time yet to change this [public perceptions], because there are places like Iowa and New Hampshire that give candidates like myself a chance to be heard." Dodd's strategy was to speak to voters in restaurants, homes, and small-town diners, although political analysts wondered whether such methods were out-of-date. But he maintained that "chatting in a living room face to face is still a very important feature of campaigning here. I don't think you can come in here and do sort of a wholesale political operation from with a pit stop here and there and a media campaign behind you." At the end of February, Dodd differentiated himself from his Democratic counterparts by stating his support for the Bush administration's willingness to hold joint talks with Iran and Syria and by stating that as president he would avoid talking with Iran as long as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remained as president. On the trail, he referred to Ahmadinejad as a "thug".

March 2007

Date Location(s) Event(s) March 14 Washington D.C Speech, Forum March 17 Concord, NH Hampton, NH Speeches March 18 Manchester, NH Speech March 23 Las Vegas, NV Rally March 24 Las Vegas, NV Henderson, NV Forum, Ceremony March 28 Washington D.C. Speech, Forum

Before Dodd hit the campaign trail for March after a round of campaigning in February, he made a visit to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a well-worn path laid by candidates trying to reach a younger audience. The campaign set up a web page before the March 13 interview. Liberal bloggers praised the behind the scenes look at the campaign as innovative and creative. A posting on the Comedy Central show's blog read: "This was a fascinating look behind the scenes of the show even for us, and a surprisingly cool thing for a Presidential candidate to do. Senator Dodd, we salute both your commitment to fiscal responsibility and your web-savvy." After the visit Dodd campaigned in New Hampshire and Nevada finishing the month at a forums in Las Vegas and Washington, D.C. At the Las Vegas Forum, he discussed health care with the other Democratic candidates and voiced his support for a system of Universal Health Care. As March came to a close the campaign revealed their fundraising total for the First Quarter. Dodd raised $4,043,757 in this quarter, spend $1,313,239 and had $7,482,467 cash on hand.

April 2007

Date Location(s) Event(s) April 3 Laconia, NH Meeting April 4 Concord, NH Manchester, NH Town Hall, Speech April 10 Wilmington, DE Town Hall April 11 Des Moines, IA Speech, Meeting April 12 Des Moines, IA Ames, IA Meetings, Speech April 13 Pahrump, NV Town Hall April 19 Washington D.C New York City, NY Manchester, NH Speeches, Ceremony April 20 Hooksett, NH Hartford, CT Speeches April 21 Conway, NH Plymouth, NH Littleton, NH Meeting, House Parties April 22 Keene, NH Speech April 23 Boston, MA Debate April 24 Washington, D.C. Speech April 26 Orangeburg, SC Debate, Party Event April 27 Orangeburg, SC Charleston, SC Columbia, SC San Diego, CA Meeting, Forum, Party Events, Speech April 28 San Diego, CA Speech April 29 Sacramento, CA Town Hall

In April, Dodd campaigned in New Hampshire, Iowa, and returned to South Carolina. While on the trail Dodd participated in a virtual town hall sponsored by the website MoveOn.org. When he was asked the question "...what is the best and fastest way to get out of Iraq?" he answered, "We ought to start redeploying this evening...We ought to begin immediately. I would not wait any longer." Continuing on the trail, Dodd sponsored what was called by The Washington Post, the "most radical plan" to combat global warming. It included a corporate carbon tax to be levied on corporations to reduce carbon emissions. The plan is part of a larger energy platform of the campaign.

On April 26, Dodd participated in the first of many Democratic presidential debates. His campaign has been critical of how little time their candidate has been allotted to speak at the debates, and its website introduced a "Talk Clock" demonstrating this disparity.

At the end of the month, Dodd set his sights on the state with the most convention votes, California by attending events in Sacramento and San Diego.

May 2007

Date Location(s) Event(s) May 2 San Francisco, CA Speech May 3 West Des Moines, IA Forum May 4 Ottumwa, IA Mt. Pleasant, IA Keokuk, IA Meetings, Appearances, Townhall May 5 Burlington, IA West Liberty, IA West Branch, IA Muscatine, IA Meetings, Appearance, Townhall May 11 Fort Mill, SC Portsmouth, NH Madbury, NH Manchester, NH Appearance, Meetings, House Party May 12 Milford, NH Merrimack, NH Bow, NH Appearance, House Parties May 17 Dubuque, IA Speech May 18 Des Moines, IA Townhall May 26 Laconia, NH Barrington, NH Portsmouth, NH House Parties

Early in May, Dodd continued to campaign in California for a few days but later shifted back to the strategically important states of Iowa and New Hampshire for the rest of the month. On May 15 the campaign released its first ad, which detailed his plan for ending the war in Iraq. In the ad, Dodd also criticized his fellow Democratic candidates by stating, "We can't simply wait for a new president. We should have the conviction to stand up to this one," In Washington, Dodd was exposed to debate on the Iraq War Spending Bill and new videos from al-Qaeda's second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri. Back on the campaign trail he talked about how he would deal with foreign issues particularly in regards to the situation in Iraq, "I'm not going to let my foreign policy be decided by Mr. al-Zawahiri. Obviously, he's playing his game here. He'd probably like to see us stay down there, bogged down, at the costs we're increasing here, the loss of lives, not to mention the isolation of the United States." When Presidential candidate John Edwards released an ad criticizing Congress' failure to end the Iraq War, Dodd took it personal and shot back at Edwards stating, ""With all due respect, we could have used John's vote here in the Senate on these issues here." He concluded the May campaign by attending House parties in three cities in New Hampshire. .

June 2007

Date Location Event June 2 Cedar Rapids, IA Concord, NH Speeches June 3 Manchester, NH Appearance, Debate June 8 New York City, NY Speech June 9 Waterloo, IA Waverly, IA Mason City, IA Meetings, Townhall June 10 Sioux City, IA Townhall June 11 New York City, NY Fundraiser June 23 Hartford, CT Amherst, NH Nashua, NH Manchester, NH Appearance, House Parties, Town Hall June 24 Rochester, NH Concord, NH Meetings June 25 Iowa City, IA Cedar Rapids, IA Appearance, Meeting June 26 Iowa City, IA Speech June 28 Washington D.C Forum June 30 Lake Buena Vista, FL Forum