Trailhead: A campaign blog.

PRINTDISCUSS

• « Prev | Main | Next »

  
  

  The Trendsetter

  The three Democratic frontrunners rode Chris Dodd’s coattails today when they announced their opposition to Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey. Obama called Mukasey’s “professed ignorance” on waterboarding “appalling.” Edwards said if waterboarding was used in the Spanish Inquisition, it shouldn’t be used in America’s fight against terrorism. Clinton looked inward, saying she was “deeply troubled” by Mukasey’s Senate testimony.
  

  But Dodd was the first candidate to speak out against Mukasey’s nomination on Sunday after he finished his Meet the Press interview. On Monday, sensing an anti-Mukasey vacuum, he held a conference call with journalists to reassert his opposition. For two days he had all of the anti-Mukasey headlines to himself.
  

  But now the frontrunners have entered the fray. The three candidates all voiced opposition to both Mukasey’s waterboarding position and his support of an expanded executive branch. Dodd is not nearly as upset about Mukasey’s wishy-washy stance on waterboarding as he is about the AG nominee’s support of expanded executive power. But his decision to speak out will likely force the frontrunners to add this issue to the already packed agenda for this evening’s debate.

  Dodd is doing what a third tier candidate is supposed to do. He’s changing the conversation and pressuring the frontrunners into making decisions. If he’s smart, he’ll brag about his trendsetting tonight at the debate.
  Published Tuesday, October 30, 2007 2:20 PM by Chadwick Matlin
  Email Chadwick.Matlin+TH@gmail.com

  Filed under: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Chris Dodd, Michael Mukasey

About Chadwick Matlin

• Chadwick Matlin is the staff reporter for Slate's The Big Money, a new business site launching in the fall. He can be reached at Chadwick.Matlin+TH@gmail.com