Senator Christopher J. Dodd celebrates his endorsement by the International Association of Fire Fighters with the group’s president, Harold Schaitberger, left. (Photo: Susan Walsh/Associated Press)

Though he ranks near the bottom of many national polls and is trailing his rivals in the race for campaign cash, today Senator Christopher J. Dodd accepted the endorsement of a major labor union, calling it a “great boost” in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Mr. Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat, said he was “deeply proud” to have the support of the International Association of Firefighters, which has more than 280,000 members across the country.

“Firefighters are our first responders, and in the Dodd campaign for the presidency, these are my first responders,” he said.

Harold Schaitberger, the I.A.F.F.’s general president sought to cast Mr. Dodd as the John Kerry of the 2008 presidential election. The union endorsed Mr. Kerry in the fall of 2003 when he was trailing in the polls. Four months later, Mr. Kerry finished first in the Iowa Caucuses and went on to become the party’s presidential nominee.

“We’ve ignored the polls, we’ve ignored the campaign money and we ignored the pundits who are generally off base, especially this early out,” Mr. Schaitberger said of the decision to endorse Mr. Dodd.
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Many of the Democratic presidential candidates have been working hard to round up support from the country’s major labor unions, which have long been an important source of fund-raising dollars and campaign volunteers. The wooing was on display at the presidential debate in Chicago sponsored by the A.F.L.-C.I.O earlier this month.

So, what could a big union endorsement mean for Democratic presidential candidate and Connecticut Senator Christopher J. Dodd, who has been polling in the low single digits?

Mr. Dodd officially receives the endorsement of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a 280,000 member group, today. The Times’s Sarah Wheaton noted that the show of support by the major union “lends a little heft” to the Dodd campaign:

“The endorsement of America’s firefighters isn’t just a great validation for Senator Dodd’s leadership, but also is going to provide the boots on the ground in the early states that are going to make the difference,” said Hari Sevugan, the campaign’s communication director. “One of the reasons we’re so excited about this endorsement is because firefighters have proven that they know how to win.”

The question remains, did the union organization decide against choosing among the major contenders in the top tier at this point, so as to avoid potentially offending a candidate not of its choosing who might ultimately become the party’s nominee? The organization defends its choice, saying Mr. Dodd has been a decades-long ally of firefighters.
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Senator Christopher J. Dodd is set to accept the endorsement of the International Association of Fire Fighters tomorrow. The union’s decision — in choosing Mr. Dodd over the top tier of Democratic candidates — lends a little heft to the Connecticut lawmaker’s campaign, which emphasized how the organization’s support helped Senator John Kerry’s 2004 campaign in Iowa.

“The endorsement of America’s firefighters isn’t just a great validation for Senator Dodd’s leadership, but also is going to provide the boots on the ground in the early states that are going to make the difference,” said Hari Sevugan, the campaign’s communication director. “One of the reasons we’re so excited about this endorsement is because firefighters have proven that they know how to win.”

In a release about the press conference tomorrow, the Dodd campaign was quick to highlight the import of its influence on the last Democratic presidential race. It quoted Paul Begala, the Democratic strategist, saying in 2004 that Mr. Kerry “wouldn’t be the presumptive nominee if not for the firefighters.” And it highlighted observations by former Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa, a supporter of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said the union “willed” Mr. Kerry’s Iowa victory in Philip M. Dine’s upcoming book, “State of the Unions.”

So, does the endorsement raise expectations for Mr. Dodd’s performance in the first caucus, given the organizing prowess of the firefighters’ organization? Read more …

Updated

At least four of the Democratic presidential candidates used the same phrase to describe the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: “long overdue.” Republican contenders Mitt Romney and Rudolph W. Giuliani both praised Mr. Gonzales for his public service, but Mr. Romney went a step further, saying that the attorney general “made the right decision to step aside.”

Though her Senate office, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been calling for the resignation of Mr. Gonzales since March, said that although the attorney general “took an oath to uphold our Constitution and respect the rule of law … time and time again, he demonstrated that his loyalties lie with the President and his political agenda, not the American people or the evenhanded and impartial enforcement of our laws”:

In his actions and inaction, from warrantless wiretaps to the firing of United States attorneys, his loyalty was to the president, not the American people.

The Department’s hard-working lawyers, law enforcement officers and staff are trusted to defend our Constitution, not one Administration or political party. That trust is central to the sanctity of the rule of law and the vitality of our democracy. Because he betrayed his obligations and the trust of the American people, I welcome today’s announcement that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned his post as Attorney General of the United States.

My hope is that the president will select a new Attorney General who will respect the rule of law and abandon partisanship, who will serve the American people and not the president’s political ideology, and who will answer to the constitution and not political operatives. It is past time to clean up this mess and restore non-partisan accountability and competence to the Department of Justice.

The second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is one more reminder that the President must appoint someone to lead the Department of Justice with the leadership and competence necessary to defend the Constitution.

In a statement from his campaign, Illinois Senator Barack Obama said he has “long believed that Alberto Gonzales subverted justice to promote a political agenda” and was “pleased that he has finally resigned today”:

“The president needs to nominate an Attorney General who will be the people’s lawyer, not the president’s lawyer, and in an Obama Administration that person will first and foremost defend and promote the rights and liberties enshrined in our Constitution.”

Senator Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate and Judiciary Committee member, has repeatedly stated that Mr. Gonzales should either resign or be fired. Here is a portion of his statement:

“When I voted against Attorney General Gonzales’ confirmation, I voiced concern about his ability to go from being the president’s lawyer to the people’s lawyer. I expressed doubts then about his judgment in light of his track record, and role as an architect of policies attempting to place the President above the law.

My skepticism was confirmed by his conduct, and his failure to put protecting the American people over protecting the president. The next Attorney General should not make the same mistake.”

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The Democratic National Committee meets tomorrow in Washington to discuss whether to impose sanctions on Florida for moving its primary up from Feb. 5 to Jan. 29. (The party had stipulated that only a handful of states, including Iowa and New Hampshire, were allowed to hold nominating contests before February). The Florida Democratic Party demurred, and now the D.N.C. appears to be considering stripping the state of its delegates and telling the presidential candidates not to campaign there.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson and key members of the state’s Congressional delegation fired back today in a letter to D.N.C. chairman Howard Dean, saying they would not stand for the sanctions under consideration.

Here’s an excerpt from the letter:

“If the D.N.C. strips Florida of all or some of its delegated to the national convention – we would ask the appropriate legal official to determine whether this could violate any state or federal laws governing and protecting individual voting rights.

Furthermore, we would recommend to the chairman and leadership of the Florida Democratic Party that they send the party’s entire delegation to the national convention in Denver next year anyway.”

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Senator Christopher J. Dodd spoke to reporters on Tuesday after meeting with the Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. (Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)

Senator Chris Dodd, the Democratic presidential candidate and chairman of the Banking Committee, said today that the recent volatility in the country’s mortgage market is “far too serious” an issue to get turned into a political football that gets pushed off until after the next presidential election.

After arranging a meeting earlier today with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., Mr. Dodd, of Connecticut, told reporters that he asked both officials to “use all the tools at their disposal” to return stability to the market. He warned if they did not, the instability may spill over into other areas of the economy.

Mr. Dodd said that Mr. Bernanke’s remarks in the meeting seemed to indicate that the Fed “gets it,” but he expressed less confidence in Mr. Paulson.

“We’re in a 37-year high rate of foreclosures in this country, a 10-year low on housing starts. It’s a very serious issue,” Mr. Dodd said.
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