The Courant on the Presidency

With little important news going on in Connecticut, David Lightman of the Courant took some time to speculation on Chris Dodd's chances of becoming president. Lightman analyzed the situation rather thoroughly, but with a very conspicuous bias :

In this climate, analysts say, voters tend to be drawn to candidates with three core traits:

Toughness - Someone willing to stand up for what he believes, regardless of political consequences. Analysts say Dodd, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and John McCain, R-Ariz., fit that mold.

"People are really looking for authenticity," said Douglas Sosnik, former Clinton White House political director and Dodd chief of staff.

Commitment To Issues - Voters want candidates who share their passion for certain views. Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold, a Democrat, has drawn a following by championing the censure of Bush. Colorado Rep. Thomas G. Tancredo, a Republican, has attracted notice by insisting on crackdowns against illegal immigrants.
...
Warmth - The early campaign will be fought largely in the living rooms, diners and VFW halls of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and other small states where primaries and caucuses are held early in the nominating cycle.

That means the candidate who comes across as caring and interested will gain more traction than the polished stump speaker. Friends of Sens. George Allen, R-Va., Edwards and Dodd say their candidates will excel in more intimate settings.

"Sen. Dodd knows how to listen," said Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3rd District, a longtime Dodd ally.

The article could almost pass as campaign literature for Sen. Dodd's campaign. I find it hard to believe that politicians like Hillary Clinton and Dodd could be considered 'tough.' Most voters can easily see through Clinton's veneer of toughness, and I have no doubt that voters would elect a genuinely tough politician like McCain over her. Dodd is a different story, if for no other reason that most voters know absolutely nothing about him. Sen. McCain is thought to be tough because of his military experience, and Giuliani because of his leadership after 9/11. Dodd, who has no military history aside from a very brief stint in the Army Reserve, lacks something that would signal to voters that he isn't just another senator, and that he determined and tough as his competition.

As for warmth, I don't believe that Sen. Dodd is aloof, but I have trouble agreeing with Lightman's portrayal of Dodd as warm. For one thing, his evidence consists of nameless friends and Rep. DeLauro, neither of which prove anything. One could just as easily make Dodd out to be the complete opposite- as an entrenched politician, he no longer connects with the American people, and the voters will be unable to identify with him.