Date: Fri 30-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

edink-endorsement-Dodd

Full Text:

ED INK: For US Senate

Once again, US Sen Christopher Dodd appears headed to easy reelection, but not

because his record is invulnerable. Indeed, he may be just a little too

liberal for many of his constituents, who see him as an unrepentant old-style

Democrat in the mold of his good friend Sen Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.

But the Republican Party has never managed to field a strong candidate against

the three-term senator, running James Buckley in 1980, Roger Eddy in 1986, and

Brook Johnson in 1992, each of whom lost by wide margins and returned quietly

to political obscurity.

This year, the Republicans have done it again with their nomination of Gary

Franks to challenge Sen Dodd. Unfortunately, we here in the Fifth

Congressional District are all too familiar with Gary Franks' abilities as an

elected representative. His remarkable unresponsiveness to constituents and

his reputation as the "no-show" congressman in the district earned him a

well-deserved defeat at the hands of James Maloney two years ago in the Fifth

District race. We couldn't recommend him to voters then, and we won't now.

Chris Dodd told The Hartford Courant earlier this month, "I'm a pretty good

legislator, and I love my state." We can't argue with either assertion, and

consequently, he will get our vote.