Dodd on 9/11

Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd today was asked (by me) at a news conference on the steps of the statehouse about an ad Hillary Clinton’s running in Iowa and New Hampshire which mentions her response to the health care problems of workers at Ground Zero.   Here’s the Radio Iowa story (audio link at the bottom lets you listen to entire news conference).

Dodd’s news conference began with an endorsement from State Senator Tom Hancock of Epworth, a volunteer fire fighter who mentioned 9/11 as he read his statement.  "It was Chris Dodd’s leadership that ensured that fire fighters across the country would have the resources they need to protect our communities before the attacks of September 11th made that a priority for others," Hancock read. 

So, after Dodd finished his opening remarks, I asked the following:  "Senator Hancock talked about 9/11 in his remarks.  Are you troubled by the use of 9/11 in the campaign?  As you know, Senator Clinton has an ad which mentions 9/11."

Dodd: "Well it depends how they’re used.  If people are going to suggest, somehow, that they were the only ones responding or dealing with the issues then I think it’s abusive.  9/11 ought not to be a campaign slogan for anyone, in my view.  It’s a moment in time in which a great tragedy for our country here.  We need to understand what happened that day and the world changed for all of us and so I would hope that candidates would be very, very careful about suggesting somehow that that date is one that ought to be used for political purposes.  I think the reaction of the American public will be very, very strong and I certainly would discourage anyone from engaging in that kind of campaigning."

Henderson:  "Are you discouraged by her ad?"

Dodd:  "I haven’t seen the ad.  I can’t tell you what it says so I don’t know, but I just know that others have tried that already and when one Republican candidate did — former Mayor Giuliani — I spoke out against it. I thought the idea that the former mayor of New York claiming 9/11 as a political slogan for himself was insulting to the American people, insulting to those who lost their lives, insulting to the 343 fire fighters who lost their lives that day, so I would admonish candidates who are thinking about it to be careful.  9/11 does not belong to a political party or to a candidate.  It belongs to America and we’ll never forget that date and don’t misuse it or abuse it for political purposes."