Dodd endorses Obama

By John McDaid | Tuesday, 26 February 2008

From an e-mail that just went out to Chris Dodd's supporters:

We all understand how much is at stake in this election and that it is more important than ever that we put a Democrat in the White House.

And while both of our Party's remaining candidates are extremely talented and would make excellent commanders-in-chief, I am throwing my support to the candidate who I believe will open the most eyes to our shared Democratic vision.

I'm deeply proud to be the first 2008 Democratic presidential candidate to endorse Barack Obama. He is ready to be President. And I am ready to support him - to work with him and for him and help elect him our 44th President.

Put simply, I believe Barack Obama is uniquely qualified to help us face this housing crisis, create good jobs, strengthen America's families in this 21st century global economy, unite the world against terrorism and end the war in Iraq - and perhaps most importantly, call the American people to shared service and sacrifice. In this campaign, he has drawn millions of voters into politics for the first time in their lives and shown us that we are united by so much more than that which divides us.

That is why I believe the time has come for Democrats to come together as a Party and focus on winning the general election. The stakes are too high not to.

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Comments

Wernerlll

Wed, 02/27/2008 - 10:06am

Well, so be it. May the best person win as I have maintained before, but that does not make me feel any more confident that another inexperienced politician may occupy the Whitehouse. My preference is Hillary who is tougher and more experienced in wheeling and dealing against the opposition party.

I do not think that the money will be available to do all the programs that are so reminiscent of naive diversification. Nevertheless, I am happy that we have leaders will to take on the immense challenge fix the disastrous state the Bush Administration has placed us in the 21st century. It will take a generation to recapture the progress that had been achieved until it all was reversed, and is still being done due to weakness of the Congressional Democrats. I think it may be just about too late to stop the greatest threat we all face from climate change, and it is not an act of faith to accept scientific evidence.

Look at the Pacific. Beaches in Hawaii have disappeared, as are whole islands further west, and with it the cultures of the people that lived there for centuries. While we here on our own little island are complicit with the Republicans in ignoring scientists. I am thankful to be able to offer one quote by one of our state's scientists, Oceanographer Dr. Kate Moran of URI:
"A community with a stable population that expands or plans to expand its carbon production is out of touch with the reality of global change."

Carbon footprints notwithstanding, no opinion will change developers' minds to reconsider developing, there may be an opportunity to obtain more loans and from China by also offering to collaborate by helping to clean up their environment and in turn make their food more safe for export. We have a great need to change our ways, I agree, but I place my faith in Senator Clinton to be able to take on the Republican spoilers. However, Senator Clinton can also be a greatly needed asset in an Obama Administration.

Hope and Cheers
Werner

John McDaid

Wed, 02/27/2008 - 12:33pm

Hi, Wernerlll...
I agree with you wholeheartedly about the importance of reversing course, especially in the disastrous climate change policies of the Bush administration. As someone who lives 14 feet above mean high tide, I take the administration's failure to act very personally.

However, about the experience question. I come from the tech world, where inexperience is not universally a handicap, but can sometimes be a source of competitive advantage. Take Apple, for example. Under the highly experienced CEO John Scully, the company corkscrewed into the mud. They were a hair-breadth from dissolution in 1997. "Inexperienced" but visionary Steve Jobs reinvented the troubled company and guided the stock price from a split-adjusted $11 to $130. How much was "experience" worth there?

There's a famous saying by Arthur C. Clarke that bears on this: "When a distinguished older scientist tells you that something is possible, she usually is right. When they tell you something is impossible, they are most likely wrong."

We don't need any more experience with business as usual in Washington. Or Beltway advisors telling the President that things are impossible. We need change, and we need it NOW.

Fourteen feet above mean high tide now.

Cheers.
-j

Wernerlll

Thu, 02/28/2008 - 11:19am

Hi J,
May I express my empathy for the situation you are describing, but no changes agent will be able to act fast enough in a democracy like ours to beat the rapid rate of climate change to save existing coastal regions. As economic growth and development is the engine of the wealth of nations, I have no illusion that next year "change" from the status quo will be successful. No one can undo the ills befallen our nation and the eroding sate of the planet born out of years of mismanagement by our leaders.

We are due for a major storm unless the "unusual" twisters arrive here first, based on the records established for Feb. '08 further southwest. Having stated that, I can only commiserate with victims of sea flooding and houses falling into the sea on the west coast. However, does that stop the zoning boards from continuing the pressure and the frenzied practice to support the desired growth in the housing market? How many times is rebuilding taking place in North Carolina after a hurricane, but experience tells us we need to change our MO. Yes, we need someone to lead change by fighting capitalist traditions and political power brokers bent on continuing to practice what worked so well for them in the past.

Yes, digital technology is still dealing with growing pains generating a lot of wealth, but politicians did not invent it. The traditionalists in the pocket of big oil, for example, are not going to give up tax breaks or subsidies, no matter whom the president turns out to be.

Hope,
Werner