Chris Dodd for President

Dave Johnson points out in his post on Senator Dodd that our home page currently says "Support the Netroots" on its banner (the graphic links to a page that was created around Senator Dodd's appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor" to defend the netroots and Daily Kos). What to me is a clear statement - Support the Netroots - may be unclear to other people. Who are the netroots?

I think the most insightful comment I heard at Yearly Kos this weekend was an answer to that question. "The netroots," one blogger said, " are Americans with computers."

To go a bit deeper, the netroots is the community of progressive, liberal, Democratic Americans who turn to blogs for news and analysis, and to engage in political debate and activism. They voice their opinions and their engagement in politics is a civic act of patriotism. They represent diverse communities from all over the country and are of a full range of ages (the average age is almost 50 years old). But, at the end of the day, they're merely Americans with computers.

Pretty simple, huh?

I'm on my way out to the Yearly Kos Convention in Chicago. Tim Tagaris and our new internet technology director, Aaron Welch, will be there as well. If you're going, please feel free to drop me a line so we can chat. Also, as a reminder, Senator Dodd will be appearing on "The O'Reilly Factor" to defend his participation in Yearly Kos. Actually, there won't be much defense involved -- the strategy is to take it right to O'Reilly. Stand with Chris Dodd while he stands up for the netroots and stands up to O'Reilly. Add your name to the list of people who are standing up to Bill O'Reilly's attacks. http://chrisdodd.com/OReilly

On Wednesday night Senator Dodd will appear on "The O'Reilly Factor" to stand up to its host, Bill O'Reilly, for his unfair attacks on progressive bloggers. O'Reilly has spent the last two weeks smearing a Democratic blog, DailyKos.com, as well as Democrats who are attending the Yearly Kos conference. Senator Dodd is going on to defend free speech and make clear that he will be proudly attending Yearly Kos. Unlike O'Reilly, Chris Dodd knows the difference between representative comments and ones cherry picked with a hostile agenda. He has the conviction to stand with his friends online and stand up to O'Reilly. Bill O'Reilly isn't used to someone stepping in to do the right thing. He isn't used to someone putting their foot down and saying, "Enough is enough." Will you stand with Chris Dodd in his defense of the netroots? Sign up now!

Senator Dodd will appear on Fox News' O'Reilly Factor tomorrow, August 1st, in advance of attending the YearlyKos convention in Chicago to personally respond to O'Reilly's attacks on the progressive blogosphere. As Greg Sargent of TPM Café writes, Dodd will be "the first Presidential candidate to personally appear on a leading right-wing show for the explicit purpose of defending the liberal blogosphere." Last week, Dodd's campaign was quick to point out the hypocrisy in O'Reilly's attack on DailyKos for the objectionable language used by a handful of commenters on the site. Communications Director Hari Sevugan said:

The Daily Kos community is populated by a diverse cross-section of the American public -- patriotic citizens participating in political debate. And as with every political debate there will be a wide range of ideas, many of which we do not agree with. But to selectively choose the handful of the most extreme comments from the millions of voices in the conversation and fashion that as representative of a whole community is patently unfair. You would think that Mr. O'Reilly would understand that it is wrong to pass judgment based on a few comments taken out of context. ... Senator Dodd is proud to participate in the Yearly Kos conference and engage in a free exchange of ideas with this important community. Senator Dodd himself is member of the community, having participated in a vigorous exchange of bold ideas prior to the New Hampshire debate in June. At a time when the stakes could not be greater for the nation, we should applaud civic participation, not try to demonize it.

The O'Reilly Factor airs at 8:00 p.m. EDT on Fox News.

Yesterday, the Dodd campaign responded to a request by Fox News' personality Bill O'Reilly to comment on a selection of cherry picked and non-representative comments from the popular liberal blog DailyKos. In a diary on Kos, Tim Tagaris wrote, "Senator Dodd is a proud member of the Daily Kos community, most notably engaging this community in a live video give-and-take prior to the New Hampshire debate. He is also an enthusiastic confirmed participant for Yearly Kos." O'Reilly attempted to smear DailyKos by contending that the most extreme statements found amidst millions of comments (attributed to no specific people) were representative of the whole community. As Hari Sevugan, Dodd campaign Communications Director, said yesterday, "to selectively choose the handful of the most extreme comments from the millions of voices in the conversation and fashion that as representative of a whole community is patently unfair." Today, I'd like to offer up some representative comments from the DailyKos community, all of which appear on the diary Tagaris posted yesterday afternoon. I'll even tell you who wrote each comment.

Sandy on Signal: "Thank you, Senator Dodd. Oh thank you so much. We look forward to meeting you at the Yearly Kos." Maura in VA: "Senator Dodd, thank you for standing up for this medium of free political speech." joanneleon: "Thanks to Senator Dodd and to Senator Dodd's staff. What a great way to handle smearmongers. It really made me feel good to read that response." dkmich: "Sen. Dodd's response was on target." rhfactor: "I salute Chris Dodd's team -- I think they are far more savvy about these things than the hyper-calculating former First Lady's team... His web team and overall communication strategy is second to none -- and further -- in my eyes the best we;ve seen to date since the heady Dean days." Jeffrey Feldman: "Well done, Dodd team! Very proud to have you in this year's field of candidates." gravitylove: "Dodd's approach, saying what you mean in a way that is understood by his intended audience, is best." sele: "Even without the whole O'Reilly trash and Dodd's great response to it, the more familiar I become with Senator Dodd, the more respect I have for him and a desire to learn more about what he has to offer. I'd like to see him gain greater coverage in both the online and traditional media."

These comments are representative of the DailyKos community, unlike O'Reilly's selections. As Hari said yesterday, "Senator Dodd is proud to participate in the Yearly Kos conference and engage in a free exchange of ideas with this important community."