Sen. Christopher Dodd endorsed one-time presidential rival Barack Obama on Tuesday and said it is time for Democrats to join forces to defeat the Republicans in the fall campaign.
“I don’t want a campaign that is divisive here, and there’s a danger in that,” Dodd said, although he denied he was nudging Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to end her candidacy.
Dodd said Obama was “ready to be president and I am ready to support him in this campaign.”
The two men appeared together at a news conference. Dodd is the first of the Democratic campaign dropouts to endorse another candidate.
He said Obama “has been poked and prodded, analyzed and criticized, called too green, too trusting and for all of that has already won” more than half the states and millions of votes.
“It’s now the hour to come together. … This is the moment for Democrats and independents and others to come together, to get behind this candidacy,” he said.
Dodd said he spoke with Clinton on Monday evening to tell her of his decision.
Dodd said he wasn’t worried that the candidates would go too far in their pursuit of victory, but that their aides and supporters might.
“We’ve witnessed a little bit of that” in recent days, he said.
That was an apparent reference to a photograph that shows Obama wearing a white turban and a wraparound white robe that was presented to him by elders in Wajir, in northeastern Kenya.
The gossip and news Web site The Drudge Report posted the photograph Monday and said it was being circulated by “Clinton staffers” and quoted an e-mail from an unidentified campaign aide. Drudge did not include proof of the e-mail in the report.
The Clinton campaign has said it did not sanction circulation of the photo.
Obama told reporters, “I don’t think that photograph was circulated to enhance my candidacy, I think that’s fair to say.
“… Do I think that is reflective of Senator Clinton’s approach to the campaign, probably not.”
Associated Press Write Andy Miga in Washington contributed to this report.
© 2008 Associated Press
What’s the flap? Was he supposed to insult the elders of his father’s village? Does that make him any less fit to be president?
I seem to recall Hillary being photographed in traditional garb of a country she was visiting and no one was squalling about that. If not Hillary, then some other notable. No big deal. It’s just being respectful, and we can certainly use a little more of that.
I think Obama could be the most diplomatically effective president we’ve had in a long time, at least since JFK.
kathyodat
Of course this article had to end with a regurgitation of non-issue gutter politics.
This is nice for the two senators, but if anyone really cared about what Mr. Dodd thought, they would have voted for him in the Iowa Caucuses.
As for the photo, there’s a good explanation of what the robes actually mean here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7265115.stm
And it has nothing to do with religion.
The USA — citizens, politicians, media — cannot do anything without inserting religion, ethnic origin, race into every corner of the media and society. A muslim did this, a black man was arrested for that, of this race or that. When it’s a white person or a Christian, do they identify them in that way? A white man was convicted today — no. I don’t think this happens in other countries as it does here in the U.S. If people want to stop the divisiveness that seems to enter everything in this country and tearing us apart, then we and the media, etc. needs to stop all this crap. When a crime is committed overseas, I don’t believe they report the crime by identifying a person by their race or ethnicity, or a person’s social leanings with religious overtones, blue or red party, etc. THIS CRAP HAS GOT TO STOP!
I would make a joke that Obama’s popularity should surge now that he’s got Dodd’s 1% of supporters behind him, but I actually liked Dodd a lot more in the debates and on policy than I do Obama. He ought to be considered as Secretary of Education.
NancyH, that was an excellent point. I too have been offended that the corporate media almost always identifies the ethnicity of minorities. It’s no accident that the powers that be want to distract us with racial divisiveness away from their theft of our treasure. Or as a restaurant cook phrased it, keep the dogs on the floor fighting over the scraps instead of with those seated at the table. Smart man (excuse me for identifying his sex).
kathyodat
BeForKids February 26th, 2008 12:17 pm
“I think Obama could be the most diplomatically effective president we’ve had in a long time, at least since JFK.”
Yes, Kathy, definitely!
I also think that Chris Dodd, having two very young children, has been doing some serious soul-searching over the past few years and realizes that we must all make an effort to change the disastrous politcal course of this country. He, like the rest of us, is aware that it can’t be done over-night, but I believe he also knows that Barak Obama is our best bet for change to take place.
One thing I would like to hear from Obama is that Joseph Stiglitz and Richard Cook will be on his team of “economic” advisors!
I applaud Chris Dodd in his endorsing of Barack Obama. It is good to see at least one member of the Democratic elite smell the coffee and realize that Hilary Clinton versus John McCain has a much larger potential for the Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Hillary professes to be perplexed, as if Obamania were a mass delusion. Endorsements by Senators Kennedy, Leahy and Dodd, as well as numerous respected journalists, should put paid to that idea. Doesn’t it say something that people who know and work with both of them have gone against the party establishment to support him?
Hillary talks about her “wisdom,” implying that Obama is foolish. Wisdom like supporting the Iraq war, NAFTA, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the Defense of Marriage Act, refusal to ban landmines, vitiating the International Criminal Court statute by holding out promises of signing, followed by refusal to sign once the damage was done, refusing to restrict cluster bomb use in populated areas, and serving on the WalMart board while it busted unions, outsourced American jobs to China and used devious tactics to bankrupt local competitors?
Count me as a fool, too.
I agree with kathyodat that Barack Obama could be the most diplomatically effective President that we’ve seen since JFK.
The reason why is because I think that both the dems and repubs know that their plan to control Iraq’s oil by force isn’t going to work, primarily because it’s costing too much money, so they’re jockeying for position, trying to figure out how to get out of Iraq without being cut off from Iraqi oil completely, and to do this without being blamed by the voters for messing things up.
And the only real way to do this is through diplomacy. What’s going to have to be done now is spend money rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure while withdrawing the troops and, at the same time, convincing the Iraqi’s to sell the US oil after the US just beat the stuffing out of them (in order to convince the Iraqi’s to sell the US oil now, the US will have to agree to buy it from them at a fair market price, instead of at a cut-rate bargain price). And a juggling act like the above is going to require one heck of a diplomat, which it’s looking like Obama just may be.
” ticonderoga February 26th, 2008 10:48 pm
I agree with kathyodat that Barack Obama could be the most diplomatically effective President that we’ve seen since JFK.
The reason why is because I think that both the dems and repubs know that their plan to control Iraq’s oil by force isn’t going to work, …. …”
KEEP ON DREAMING. Where did you ever get the idea that they are the deciders?
They are NOT; they work, covertly or secretly, for the real deciders, and they’re not politicians. The politicians are bought and controlled by the real and hidden ruling elites.
And the politicians like this should stop masturbating in all of our faces.
As for Pres. JFK, I don’t know enough about him to be sure, but somewhat doubt I’d want him for president again. Did some good things, but also unacceptble things too; like going along with the hellbent bs against Cuba, f.e. Whether he knew what was really going on in terms of targetting Cuba or not, I don’t know, but if he wasn’t aware, then he was not doing any good in going along with the anti-Cuba fiends.
Mr. Corbeil, The Big Corporations know by now that their plan, if plan is the word I want, isn’t going to work, either. Rotten though they may be, they’re not stupid.
Mike Corbeil, JFK was a new president. The Bay of Pigs was set up by the Army brass and CIA during the Eisenhower administration and handed off to him. He had misgivings, but decided not to buck to military right off the bat. He learned from that mistake, accepted the blame and took full responsibility and his approval ratings shot up.
When he faced Kruschev the first time, Kruschev judged him to be a wimp and expected he could steamroller over him. Kruschev found out he was wrong during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but the entire world held it’s breath for three days while the Russian ships were headed for Cuba. I remember that time. The anxiety and tension was incredible.
kathyodat