Door opens for Dodd
There are moments that emerge in a campaign when a candidate is able to move from one level of “legitimacy” to the next, thus opening the door for more attention and thus more potential for poll movement. Chris Dodd just may have taken that step, with an endorsement by the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) yesterday. Dodd scored his highest buzz share levels in memory, getting over 15% yesterday from liberal bloggers, according to Wonkosphere.
Blue Indiana says, “Senator Chris Dodd managed to pull of a major coup… This will breathe new life into a campaign that has been getting it right on all of the issues but had until now failed to gain the attention of the horse race obsessed journalists who failed to notice the Dodd horse moving through the pack rather quickly toward the front.”
Dodd told the firefighters, ““Firefighters are our first responders, and in the Dodd campaign for the presidency, these are my first responders.” The AFL-CIO Blog noted that “Dodd is the co-chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus and the author of the Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement Act of 2000. This July, Dodd staffers in New Hampshire volunteered to help Manchester-area Fire Fighters rally for a new contract.”
Many blogs noted that the IAFF’s endorsement of Senator John Kerry in 2003 led to momentum into Iowa. The IAFF has over 280,000 members.
