Opinion: Chris Dodd embraces Iowa with a passion

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For Chris Dodd’s sake, one can only hope his home state constituents are broad-minded. Because if we lived in Connecticut, which first sent him to the Senate in 1980 and has overwhelmingly re-elected him ever since, we might be getting a wee bit jealous.

Dodd made a minor splash last month when he decided to temporarily relocate himself and his family to Des Moines (they’re renting a three-bedroom house). It was, literally, a desperation move. His slim hope of capturing the Democratic presidential nomination almost assuredly depends on first shocking the world with a strong showing in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. So to maximize the time he spends in the state, he drastically cut his commute.

Dodd’s focus on Iowa, though, may be verging on the obsessive.

His press shop on Thursday ...

sent out a release in which Dodd listed, as the headline put it, his ‘ ‘08 reasons to be thankful.’ The first, appropriately, mentioned the candidate’s wife, two daughters and friends. The next seven were Iowa-centric, to greater or lesser degrees.

For instance, Dodd said he was thankful for:

-- ‘The young servicemen and women from Iowa and across the nation, who sacrifice so much in order for us to gather safety and soundly in our homes on days like today.’

-- ‘The fire fighters and first responders in Iowa and elsewhere, who each and every day risk their lives for others.’

-- ‘The caucus process, for representing democracy at its very core, and for going above the power of money and celebrity in order to let each candidate be heard.’

In case it wasn’t completely clear how much the Hawkeye State has come to mean to him, here’s the final item on his list: ‘The simple pleasures of life -- coffee at the Ritual Cafe in Des Moines, the scenic beauty of Decorah in the fall and the Loess Hills at sunset, the stacked shelves at Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City, and the loose meat sandwiches at the Canteen in Ottumwa.’

Makes you wonder if he’s going to decide to buy after his current lease is up.

Dodd’s Iowa gambit did pay one small dividend -- it won him first mention Thursday in a Washington Post story probing the ‘tough decisions’ White House candidates face, ‘both personal and political,’ about how aggressively to campaign in the state right before Dec. 25 and on the day itself.

‘I think you have to be very, very careful on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,’ Dodd told the Post. ‘You wouldn’t want to be making calls. So the activities will be carefully selected.’

We anxiously await, however, a Noel-themed release from his camp.

-- Don Frederick