Your old “South of Grand” neighbor, Chris Dodd, in trouble at home

Do you remember back to October of 2007? Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd moved his wife and two young daughters into a home in the "South of Grand" neighborhood of Des Moines.  His six-year-old daughter Grace attended kindergarten in a nearby elementary school.  The Dodds didn't even return to Connecticut for Thanksgiving! It was part of Dodd's bid to win Iowa's Caucuses. It didn't work out so well as Dodd dropped out after his seventh-place Caucus Night finish (right behind "uncommitted" in sixth place).

Now, it seems Dodd's bid to serve the State of Connecticut for another six-year term in the senate may not be working out so well either.  According to this story by the Associated Press, Dodd's problems "back home" began when he moved "out west" to Iowa.  Here's a key paragraph in the AP story: "I think Chris has made a couple of mistakes," said Bill Stanley, a retired stockbroker and longtime Democrat from Norwich who has known Dodd since he was a child. "I think when he moved out west, a lot of people who were not politically tuned in … felt he had abandoned Connecticut for personal gain."

One of the interesting things Dodd and his staff may not have understood is that living in the "South of Grand" neighborhood in Des Moines isn't really a way of connecting with ordinary Iowans.  Lots of doctors and professional people — including former Governor/former insurance industry executive/former interim Des Moines Mayor/former interim Drake University president Robert D. Ray — live in the South of Grand neighborhood.  In fact, there's a Des Moines-area band called "North of Grand" which mocks the "South of Grand" neighborhood by declaring they choose to "live and drink" North of Grand.  (Full disclosure: North of Grand drummer Pat Curtis is a fellow Radio Iowa employee.  I did not, however, write this entire post to encourage you to listen to his/their music, although you may do so by clicking on that link above. I'm just saying…)