On the Chris Dodd Campaign

I recently read my former colleague Jason Mathews' Playboy piece on the Dodd campaign, and actually suggest you do too. I'm not saying I agree with everything he wrote, but he wrote nothing that wasn't either his opinion or actually factual about it. It was a tough go of things out in Iowa in 2007 and early 2008. We had some unique personalities associate with our campaign. It is very tough being on a losing Presidential campaign.

I have to say I had a more positive experience in Iowa though than perhaps this article puts forward. First off, I can't say enough good things about Chris Dodd the Senator and person- he was a tremendous boss, and his career makes me proud that I worked for him. I also had an incredible experience in Iowa. I made friends I still talk to out there. I learned so much about politics, both on the local and national level, while I was out there. I was absolutely pushed up to a job level I wasn't ready for yet, at that time, but that has helped me infinitely moving forward. The challenge of it was enjoyable, and the battle was a motivator. I concur with Jason's feeling that the friends I made during that campaign are people I want to keep in touch with for life. I actually really did love that experience in Iowa.

I did it for very different reasons though than perhaps anyone in that article said. I wanted to do a national campaign. It was my goal. It wasn't really so much about career advancement (I didn't expect to do campaigns this long, at the time). I wanted the experience. As Jason described in his article, we all certainly had an experience. Some days were funny, some sad, and some really amazing. I wanted to do the Iowa Caucus. I did it. It was awesome.

To be fair, the experience wasn't all about failure either. In my region, we had support from state legislators, county elected officials, state Democratic Party members, union leaders, and some good people who didn't hold any offices, but were smart, savvy, solid folks. It didn't add up to contention, but I think it's clear to most people that the deck was stacked against Senator Dodd from an early point in 2008. We did about as well as we could, and frankly we all knew long before Caucus night that this didn't mean we were going to do so well. That was clear.

The year 2007 was an amazing time for me, mostly because I spent close to a year in the Hawkeye state running a twelve county region for Senator Dodd. I absolutely had some bad days. I absolutely had some days that were so ridiculous, I couldn't believe they were happening. I'd love to write something more descriptive of my time there, but that's not really going to happen in a blog post today. Let me just say that while it was a struggle, I'd actually go back and do it again- and not for the paycheck, ideology, or political calculation. It was the absolute most unique year of my life.