Senator Dodd May Be Close to Running

After eight years of George W. Bush, the 2008 election is going to be critical. Fortunately, some excellent Democrats are considering a run for the presidency. Like other potential presidential candidates, Senator Christopher Dodd seems close to running; here's a story by AP reporter David Weber in the Boston Globe:

Sen. Christopher Dodd edged closer to officially declaring he is running for president Friday at a Harvard University student-sponsored forum for potential candidates in 2008.

"You're not that far from New Hampshire. I'd like to sign you up," Dodd said, alluding to the first-in-the-nation primary election state while he posed for pictures with students after the session.

Dodd, D-Conn., accused President Bush of not working with the rest of the world's nations when it comes to environmental policies and fighting terrorism.

"This mentality of unilateralism is very, very dangerous. If I am nominated and elected, that will change dramatically," he said.

It's good to see Senator Dodd criticizing Bush's foreign policy, particularly his unilateralism. I checked the senator's site and was glad that the senator seem to agree with the failing grades the Iraq Study Group have given Bush's policies in Iraq, but I was surprised at how bland the statement was; here's the first paragraph:

“The Iraq study group conclusions and recommendations are very realistic and sobering at the same time. What is very clear is that the group has come to the same conclusion that many of us in Congress have felt for some time – namely that we are not winning in Iraq and we need a course correction if we are to have any chance of success. Our troops are absolutely doing their part. They are bravely and valiantly sacrificing everything they’ve got on behalf of our nation, and they deserve concrete bipartisan solutions that will help them fulfill their mission.

I applaud Senator Dodd's general belief in the need for bipartisanship in Washinton. There was a time when our foreign policy was largely bipartisan (there are always going to be differences from one president to the next and things will vary according to party philosophy somewhat but most years since World War Two, there was usually real dialogue about the course that should be taken). But it takes two parties to have a bipartisan relationship and in the area of foreign policy, President Bush has drifted far from where we once were; he clearly is engaging in a foreign policy that so far has led to a series of blunders and failures.

There are signs that it's going to take hard work, and perhaps a certain amount of pressure, to get George W. Bush to change his policy in Iraq. A lot of work will probably take place out of the public eye because that's in the nature of how real bipartisanship works, but it's important to remember that Bush still has a powerful noise machine, even if that machine is losing its ability to sway people.

Let's hope Senator Dodd's official statements don't continue to be so bland. I appreciate the senator's thoughtfulness and statesmanship but he needs to assure us that bipartisanship doesn't mean some bland criticism of the president that is followed by deferring to Bush's one-sided style of bipartisanship; that can only lead to more of the same for the next two years.