Chris Dodd for President

I've spent a lot of time walking the halls of the Yearly Kos Convention the last twenty-four hours. Everywhere I go, I'm seeing people gathered around a laptop, watching Chris Dodd take on Bill O'Reilly. One blogger, David Alpert, described it to a friend after hearing the audio: "Dodd demolished O'Reilly." Here's what other bloggers are saying today: John Aravosis of AmericaBlog:

You really have to watch this video. It's wonderful. Senator Dodd (D-CT), who is running for president, goes on O'Reilly to talk about DailyKos and O'Reilly's own hate speech. Dodd was simply amazing. I really like the guy. Always have. Like him even more now.

Jonathan Singer of MyDD:

This is some really great stuff. Dodd goes directly at O'Reilly in a way that few have been able to in a long time, not only strenuously defending the netroots from O'Reilly's scurrilous attacks but also going after O'Reilly for his own extremist language (for instance, Dodd brings up O'Reilly's comments from 2005 about Al Qaeda bombing San Francisco). You can hear O'Reilly get really frustrated in the clip -- particularly when he scolds Dodd for not being enough like his fellow Connecticut Senator, Joe Lieberman -- which is a testament to the solid job Dodd did during the interview. So go and reward the good behavior over at Dodd's website, where he is hosting a petition supporting the netroots and standing up to O'Reilly.

John Amato of Crooks and Liars:

I’ve got the video of Dodd doing a great job of sticking up for Daily Kos in an excellent way. He told the truth. And when propagandists like BillO are confronted with the truth—heads explode. And it didn’t take much for Chris Dodd. He just pointed out some of the hateful words Factor Man said and bam! Instant meltdown. O’Reilly hates us for our ideology and because we call him on out on his propaganda. PERIOD….”Thank you, Chris…”

Taylor Marsh:

Honest to heaven, I've not heard anything like this since ... well, I can't remember when. Dodd is running a scrappy campaign with the heart, and takes it to the Fox "News" burlesque king without blinking an eye. It shows the kind of courage a person can present when he or she is beholden to no one and isn't looking for approval, least of all from Fox "News." You asked for push back? Meet Chris Dodd.

Scarecrow of FireDogLake:

Yesterday, Chris Dodd went on Bill O’Reilly’s show to face him down, to expose his lies and demagoguery and to send a message to the 1500 people gathered here that he knows how important the progressive blogosphere is. Whether she meant to or not, Hillary Clinton also sent a message that she doesn’t know who we are, what we’re about or what we might mean to the next administration. Dean gets it, Chris Dodd gets it. Does Hillary? You have to wonder.

Maura of MyLeftNutmeg:

Dodd didn't allow O'Reilly to dominate the conversation, and he didn't back down for a minute. O'Reilly was apoplectic and Dodd kept his cool. Please take a minute to stop on over at the Chris Dodd for President web site to show your solidarity with our courageous senior Senator, standing up for the netroots. O'Reilly ended his rant by saying, "What are you gonna do with a guy like Dodd? What are you gonna do?" My answer? Reward him.

If you like what Senator Dodd did and you want to stand with him in support of the netroots, add your name here and don't forget to tell a friend!