Senator Chris Dodd speaks with NH voters after receiving firefighter endorsement
Senator Dodd spoke in Somersworth Sunday and covered a wide range of issues that many Democratic voters care about. There was one issue that I raised in private conversations with him that we disagree on, and that is the future role of nuclear energy. He says it should have a future; I say it should be phased out, due to the complete lack of a safe, long-term solution for the waste, the inability of nuclear corporate america to put safety above profits, and the future likelihood that a spent fuel pool of nuclear fuel rods stored on site is an attractive target for terrorists. A dispersal of the spent nuclear fuel at any of the numerous, non-hardened pools and plant sites across the country would have CATASTROPHIC consequences to large areas of a state. We did agree, however, on virtually all of the following issues:
Restoring our Constitution (making Signing Statements illegal)
Iraq and Iran (the need to get out of Iraq soon and stay out of Iran)
National Service (Peace Corps, Military Service, expanding AmeriCorps)
Election Reform (the need for public financing of campaigns, the cost which limits who can run, the fraud perpetrated in several states...Florida, Ohio, and New Mexico are but a few examples. He did not say anything about the Holt Bill, which still allows electronic voting machines and doesn't require paper ballots.
Neew to work with Republicans as he has in the past on children's issues (Family & Medical Leave Act, childcare, infant screening, autism, premature infants, and Head Start)
The Global Economy (the need to craft better trade laws that consider worker rights & safety and environmental regulations; labor's right to organize and represent workers, China...and its recent flood of the US market with dangerous..even poisonous...products, with our current administration doing nothing about it.
The US Economy ( the terrible Bankruptcy Bill written by the credit card companies; the lack of an Anti-Trust division in the Justice Department; the mortgage industry crisis).
Even though Senator Dodd has voted correctly and has the right philosophy on all of these issues, so do most of the other Democratic candidates (and virtually NONE of the Republican candidates). So, I ask myself why I would choose Senator Dodd over Congressman Kucinich (who has MORE of the right record and philosophy on key issues of concern to me), or any other Democratic candidate ? Maybe it is his experience that should count the most ???