Dodd: Nation needs a leader who already knows Congress

By HOLLY RAMER |Associated Press Writer5:10 PM EDT, November 3, 2007 CONCORD, N.H. - Casting his long tenure in the U.S. Senate as an asset, Democrat Christopher Dodd said Saturday he would be an effective president because he won't have to waste time getting to know members of Congress.

Dodd, who has represented Connecticut for 26 years, was asked at a senior citizens' home how he would heal a divided nation weary of partisan bickering.

He listed half a dozen major bills he co-sponsored with conservative Republicans _ including the Family and Medical Leave Act _ and said he would host a dinner soon after his inauguration that would include prominent Republicans and Democrats as guests.

"I'm not going spend a couple of years getting to know these people," he said. "We trust each other, we disagree, we agree, we've argued, we've fought with each other on things. But we've also come to terms, and I think that's the kind of leadership we need right now.

"We can't afford a few more years devoted to getting to know each other," he said.

Dodd said he has spent decades reaching across the aisle to get things done, but suggested that resumes like his don't get the attention they deserve in a presidential campaign.

"This is the only job I know of in America where you don't have to have any references. If someone's going to remodel your bath or your kitchen, you want to know, 'Have they ever done this before?' before you allow them into your house to do the job," he said. "But when it comes to the presidency, we just kind of listen to speeches about the future and no one ever asks, 'Have you ever done any of this before?"'

He made a similar argument earlier at an outdoor rally calling attention to global warming. Similar rallies, organized by a group called Step it Up, were held around the country to mark one year before the 2008 presidential election.

"I bring people together. It's what I do. It's what my skill sets are," he said. "I don't think it's just about fighting people. We've got a lot of wonderful fighters. How about getting something done for the country here? Bringing people together to get something done."

Dodd also promoted his plan to tax corporations for their carbon dioxide emissions. He also is seeking a steep increase in auto fuel economy standards to 50 miles per gallon by 2017 and requiring the government to use clean-energy vehicles.

"We tax cigarettes, why not tax carbon as well?" he said. "The only way we're going to change this is by insisting that we produce cleaner technologies, cleaner forms of energy, and the leadership to get us there to make it happen."

Dodd, who often describes how President John F. Kennedy inspired him to join the Peace Corps, was joined on the campaign trail by Ted Kennedy Jr., son of Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.

"One of the things I really admire about Chris Dodd is his sense of public service," Kennedy said. "When my uncle Jack asked people in the country in 1960, 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,' Senator Dodd answered that call ... and that's exactly the kind of inspiration that is needed in this country today."