Chris Dodd for President

Here's the second letter to the editor in today's Iowa City Press-Citizen:

This holiday season, as always, there are so many things to do. This year in Iowa, we have the additional responsibility of setting the tone for the upcoming presidential election. Looking at the field of candidates in the Democratic Party, we have a difficult choice between many qualified candidates. Many people have made up their minds, but many are still considering this important decision.

As I searched for a candidate to support, I was seeking a candidate with proven leadership, someone I could trust and someone who can win in November. I did not have to look far for this candidate. Last summer, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd spent a day in a classroom at the Head Start Program where I work. Head Start is a federally funded preschool program for at-risk children. Dodd arrived that morning at 7:30 when the lead teacher opened the door. He worked along side staff all day, washed tables, ate with the children, held them on his lap and read to them, and he listened to them. Listening to all the people is an important quality in a leader. It is obvious to me why Dodd is known as the "Children's Senator" and was named "Senator of the Decade" by the National Head Start Association.

This election is too important to be decided by media hype and celebrity. I believe this election is about finding the most qualified candidate with a proven record of service and integrity, and that is why I am going to caucus for Dodd.

Donna Castle

Solon
Coralville

Here's a video of Senator Dodd talking about the value of Head Start:

Today's Iowa Press-Citizen has a pair of great letters to the editor in support of Chris Dodd. Here's the first, from Pat Harney.

As a local elected official, I am proud of the role we have in choosing our next president. I will be going out in January to caucus for the candidate that I think will best serve our country. This tradition of the Iowa caucus relies on all of us to come out and do our part.

Iowans expect candidates to have discussions at a grassroots level. That means taking time to have conversations with all Iowans. It means leaving the talking points and Hollywood antics at home and addressing Iowans with a firm handshake and a genuine smile.

One candidate stands out to me as really understanding the meaning of the Iowa caucuses. One candidate truly cares about grassroots America. That candidate is Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd.

Dodd's record of protecting our rights and the Constitution reflects his honesty, integrity and his genuine concern for our country.

He firmly believes that the only way to do well in Iowa is to do right by Iowans. He knows that you owe it to Iowa voters to talk to them directly.

Dodd has no problem doing just that. This is because with a 26-year record of delivering real results, he has the experience and foresight to deal with any issue that arises. Throughout this campaign, he has been out in front on every issue.

It is imperative that the people select our next president. Do not allow the media or talk show hosts or Hollywood celebrities make that decision for us. I ask that you join me in standing with the only candidate who has stood with us: Dodd.

Pat Harney
Iowa City

The Concord Monitor has a letter to editor about Dodd's success in the FISA fight.

As the rest of us were out shopping on Monday, Sen. Chris Dodd left the Iowa campaign prepared to filibuster a "get out of jail free" provision in the FISA bill.

The Bush administration is threatening to veto a much needed revision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would continue to allow our National Security Agency to intercept potential foreign terrorist communications if Congress does not include the okay to let phone companies off the hook for surveilling on U.S. citizens' communications without proper authority. Dodd stood up to yet another Bush threat by standing firm.

C-SPAN televised the whole abusive attempt by the White House with initial support from Democrat Harry Reid to usher this bill through the Senate as we got ready for Christmas. It blatantly tramples on our constitutional rights against illegal surveillance under the Fourth Amendment, and it was not just an incident or two but millions of phone calls and e-mails over a five-year period.

The FISA bill allows us the security of monitoring terrorist phone calls, but they need to be approved by the FISA courts - a judicial oversight process of checks and balances.

If you believe that the executive branch needs to follow the rule of law, tell your senator to support Chris Dodd's insistence that there should not be any "retroactivity exclusion" in this bill handed to the phone companies. This will come up again in the New Year. Do not let them attempt to sneak it through again.

PATRICK CLARK

Tilton

In today's Iowa City Press-Citizen, there's a great letter to the editor in support of Chris Dodd's leadership to win a victory in the FISA fight last week.

Recently Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd won a great victory for the U.S. Constitution. Almost single-handedly, he prevented passage of a bill that would have granted blanket immunity to the Bush administration, and some of the largest companies in the nation, for spying on American citizens. We still don't know exactly what they did, but we do know that they took technology and legal authority to spy on foreigners, and abused them by spying on Americans.

This bill was not about spying on terrorists. The FISA Act of 1978 already gave the government broad powers to eavesdrop on suspected spies and terrorists.

These powers were expanded even further by the Patriot Act. The bill that was debated yesterday began as a simple technical fix to clarify how surveillance powers would apply to new technologies, like cell phones. But it became a vehicle for retroactive amnesty for the Bush administration, and its allies who exceeded their authority by eavesdropping on the phone calls and emails of ordinary, law-abiding Americans.

We have been presented with the false choice that we must give up some of our freedoms in order to gain security. But Dodd knows that in the long run, we can only be secure if we defend our freedoms.

The world has always looked to America as the well spring of freedom, and I'm supporting Dodd because he has done the most to protect our freedoms.

Dale Shultz
Iowa City

As we've endeavored to show throughout this campaign, restoring the Constitution and defending the rule of law are issues that Americans all around the country care deeply about. Literally everywhere I have gone on the campaign trail with Senator Dodd - Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, Florida, Michigan, Utah and more - people have asked him what he will do to restore the Constitution...what he will do to honor the balance of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches...how he will treat our detainees...how he will handle conflicting intelligence reports. Everywhere we go, people ask for leadership that will restore America's moral authority and standing in the world by standing up for the rule of law here at home.

I say this in hopes that this brilliant letter to the editor can once again be offered up as proof for those that care that the Constitution is not an issue that only law professors and high school civics teachers care about. Instead, it strikes to the fabric of who we are as a nation and can surprise no one that so many people nationwide will be voting for the candidate who's stood up for the Constitution and who is getting results through principled leadership in the Senate...Chris Dodd.

Here's a letter to the editor in today's Sioux City Journal.

SIOUX CITY -- Actions speak louder than words. That is the case everywhere other than Washington. In the Democratic presidential field, challenging the status quo has become campaign rhetoric. The idea of getting results has become "we'll make accomplishments in increments."

It is time to look past the phrasing and oratory and to look for proven experience. Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd is the only candidate who not only talks the talk but has the conviction to walk the walk.

Challenging the Bush administration has become the centerpiece of every Democratic campaign this election season, but who will take action? Dodd has been passionate about restoring the Constitution and the writ of Habeas Corpus, laws President Bush has simply neglected.

Recently, the Bush administration tried yet again to pull the wool over the eyes of the American public. Only one candidate had the audacity to stand up to the status quo immediately while the others waited to test the political waters.

Placing a procedural "hold" on the FISA legislation which would grant amnesty to those phone companies that complacently took part in the Bush administration's illegal wiretaps on American citizens, and threatening a filibuster, Sen. Dodd stood up for the Constitution.

Dodd has disrupted the status quo of Washington to do what was right and stand up for the rule of law. Instead of rallying against Washington on the campaign trail Dodd faced reality and is doing what he can to stop the Bush administration.
-- Ray McAvoy