Chris Dodd is Confusing Me Posted by Shadi Hamid

Chris Dodd (in the debate which is going on right now) just gave his pitch to Iowans. He kept on saying "we," concluding with "we ask for your vote on Jan. 3." Can someone shed light on this? Maybe I wasn't listening carefully, but who is the "we" he's referring to here?

Comments

[Don Bacon]

Who is the "we" he's referring to here?

Chris Dodd is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. That gives the Connecticut Senator jurisdiction over some pretty important issues, including the recent subprime mortgage meltdown.

According to Bloomberg News, Dodd's committee "has failed to fill two seats on the Federal Reserve Board, including one vacant for more than a year...relied on another panel to press for an overhaul of the credit-card business...and it has yet to push legislation on subprime mortgages even as markets have been shaken by the industry's collapse."

Moreover, even in absence (and at 1% in the polls) Dodd's raising a boatload from the very industries he's supposed to be overseeing. The banking, insurance and financial services sector, the Washington Post reports, "applauds his light-handed approach to financial regulation and considers him a reliable friend."
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?pid=246093

That should clear it up.

[quihana]

I have noticed this verbal tic recently from many of the candidates. "We'll be in New Hampshire all next week", etc. A new sense of collegiality in politics?

Perhaps its a reaction against the relentless "I" of GWB. From the very beginning the Bush folks were so determined to erase the impression of their boss as a know-nothing figurehead that they, to my ear anyway, set out to describe every decision of the Administration as something that proceeded directly from Bush himself.

[Dan Kervick]

I would guess that when a candidate has low poll numbers and voters have the impression that he is out pounding the pavement almost all alone, using the "we" reminds people that the candidate is part of a campaign that contains a lot of people who actually support him.