PeterGlenshaw.com

Silent (Happy) Night

Since late March, this has been my routine in the Glenshaw household on nights when I am home: 1) make dinner for the kids and Elizabeth, 2) eat dinner with them, 3) clean up the kitchen, 4) help with homework and take care of other family needs, 4) exercise my black lab, Bear, by throwing the ball long and against a pitchback for 20-30 minutes, and 5) watch the Red Sox.

Win or lose, I watch the Local Nine, most often on NESN and sometimes on those national broadcasters.

162+ games.  Some six, maybe seven months, of baseball.  From the old cold of Winter to the heat of Summer to the new cold of Fall, the constant has been the Red Sox.  And this year's team has been incredible constant.

In first place in their division since April, the 2007 Red Sox have been a joy to watch.  I've been a devoted fan of a lot of teams and a lot of sports since I graduated into the world of fandom at the age of eight years, when my hometown team, the Washington Redskins, had an amazing season in 1972 only to lose the Super Bowl to the Miami Dolphins, 14-7.

But in all those years, this team has been perhaps the most incredibly special to watch.  Maybe it's the funny combination of experience and freshness they bring.  Or the funny combination of experience and freshness that comes when I watch the game alongside my kids, especially Hannah (12) and Jacob (10).  This year, they probably watched 100+ games and learned more about the game and this team than I certainly knew at their ages.

It's been a great year, and last night's victory that swept the World Series against the Colorado Rockies is a moment which I will treasure for a long time.  Here is perhaps what I will remember most.

In 2004, with one out in the top of the ninth inning, I woke up Hannah and Jacob so they could witness the Red Sox winning a World Series.  Why Dad, they asked, did you wake us up?  Why did you run outside and scream? 

Last night, they stayed up with me to win the Series.  This time, with one out to go, there was Jacob, fast asleep on the couch and Hannah in a similar recline.  But they were there.  I jostled them only slightly, and suddenly we were altogether watching the celebration.  It was 1:30am before we all went to bed, visions of Red Sox jumping around in unadulterated happiness in our heads. 

This morning the Glenshaw household moved a bit slower than usual.  Thanks to healthy doses of tea and coffee, we got out of the house on time (or close to it), but in each of our heads, thoughts of the Red Sox and this incredible victory came to mind.

We talked about it over breakfast this morning.  We talked about it over dinner tonight.  And we will talk more about it in the coming weeks, months, and years.  A memory was set over the last seven months, and we shall revisit it often.

Tonight in the Glenshaw household the TV set is quiet.  Everyone is asleep.  The lights in our house are dark.  The season is over.  It will be several months again before you find this corner of our house alight at night.  But our hearts?  Our minds?  They remain lit, fired with the joy and happiness of victory.

Goodness knows the Rockies were close (and I mean, that close) to figuring out how to beat the Red Sox.  Somehow, the Sox persevered.   They survived.  They triumphed.  As they had done all season, the Red Sox overcame the most persistent and capable opponents.  And the result is something I will hold in my heart for a long, long time.

The only thing which gives me more peace and joy lies in the expressions and sounds I hear from my kids about this victory.  Even Noah, my youngest (7 years old), who has long professed a love for the Yankees (who is this kid's father?), donned a Red Sox cap in the 2007 World Series.

And the sounds and expressions I heard and saw that meant the most to me had little to with the victory itself.  Instead, they came from catching the fire of being of sports fan.  Of understanding that good times and bad come to all sports fans, but like life itself, there is a cycle.  Thanks to the Internet and instant reply and lots of video archives, kids today can get an instant download of history -- its sadness, its joy, and the-in-between. 

Sports provide an incredibly safe proxy for the experience of living itself.  And what I got from my kids this time was a small glimpse and recognition of this cycle.  A person learns and relearns what this cycle means over the years.  It's a long walk, but maybe the hardest part involves taking the first step.  I think I heard that step being taken by the next generation of Glenshaws over the past few nights.

As for me....it's time to go to bed and get some much needed sleep.

Doddmania (or what happens when you fight immunity for telephone companis & stand up for the Constitution)

Enough already. 

Earlier this week, Verizon admitted publicly that it "... has provided customers' telephone records to federal authorities in emergency cases without court orders hundreds of times since 2005."

To be precise, 720 times.  Since 2005. 

Let's call that period roughly 900 days (Jan 1, 2005 to mid-Oct 2007).  Now divide the number of days by the number of requests.....and you get...nearly one telephone record per day, every day, provided by Verizon to the Bush administration WITHOUT a warrant.

UGH!

And then yesterday, the Bush administration, along a handful of cowardly Dems, passed a bill out the Senate Judiciary Committee that would give IMMUNITY to Verizon and other telecommunication companies who provide information for these warrantless searches.

UGH!

As one observer put it, "Congress bowed to the fearmongering of the administration, yet again."

Who will stop these guys?  So far, there is just one person who has the courage to do something about it.

Senator Chris Dodd.

Yesterday, he put a hold -- which is a privilege any Senator has to stop a bill -- on this telco immunity bill.  And, if the privilege of the hold is ignored, Dodd said he will filibuster the legislation. 

Dodd's decision to fight the telco immunity bill has produced something fascinating:  Doddmania.  The Internet community is going crazy in their support for Dodd (just google "Doddmania"), and the campaign finds itself unexpectedly raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in 24-hour periods.

This isn't over.  Not by a long shot.  Let me close with a quote from Dodd himself about why's he taken this action.  You can see a video of his statement here.

I placed a hold on the foreign surveillance intelligence act. I'm asking you to join me in that effort here. I don't believe its right for telephone companies to be turning over the private telephone records of American citizens to the Bush administration without prior judicial approval.

This is a basic fundamental right, privacy in our country and I'm going to do everything I can to see to it that Congress strips this provision out of the bill. I will do everything I can, including filibustering this legislation if necessary. My hope is the hold will work but if it doesn't then I'm prepared to go to the floor of the United States Senate and filibuster this.

I don't do that very often, very very rarely have I done it. But I cannot any longer tolerate this Administration's drum beat here to deprive us of basic rights in this nation here.

This false dichotomy that we're only going to be saved if we give up our rights is something I cannot stand for any longer. I hope you will join me in this effort by going to ChrisDodd.com, my website here, if you want to co-sponsor the effort I'm making here, that would be a great help.

Democrats need to understand we were given the power last fall to be the majority control of Congress, we can't be going along with these ideas. If the President believes that he wants to grant immunity again to a telephone company that's his responsibility, I disagree with that. I don't think that's the right thing to do but Congress of the United States ought not to be sanctioning that decision by including a provision like that in this legislation so I'm going to do everything I can to stop it.

I'll begin with a hold, if the hold doesn't work then I'll go to the filibuster, but I need your help. I'm asking you to join me in this effort, if you care about our Constitution, if you understand that our rights ought not to be eroded. Sandra Day O'Conner said it right: Because we made this choice about war, it doesn't give the President a blank check to go out and rip apart our Constitution. That's what I'm standing for, I hope you will join me in that effort.

Most Qualified

Here in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont, perhaps the most-read section of the local newspaper (The Valley News) is the Letters To The Editor.

And here is how I know: the refrain I hear frequently in the gym locker is "did you see my letter to the editor?" 

Here, in the sticks, people write and people read to each other in the newspaper.

Here, people write to the Editor about everything: the weather, sports teams, news coverage....oh, and the New Hampshire Primary. 

So it's with great interest that I point dear readers of this blog to a letter-to-the-editor.  This one appears in a slightly different paper: that urban publication known as The Boston Globe.

Upper Valley Neighbor and fellow Dodd Squad Member, Andrea Calandrella, wrote to the Globe and they printed her comments.

You can find her letter here.

Her point?  The coronation of Obama and Clinton is premature, and if you care about who is the most qualified candidate in the field, Chris Dodd is the person whom you should support.

Whether you agree or not that Dodd is the most qualified (and I hope you do), it's good, healthy, and wise that we debate the virtues of Presidential candidates in this arena. 

Let the Spin Doctors and K-Street lobbyists try to have their way. Here, where neighbor-to-neighbor communication matters more than advertising and hype, is a place for Dodd to shine.  Look for more news in the coming weeks about how he is the right candidate for our time.

The Voice and Value of Experience

Support for Chris Dodd came this weekend from an interesting source -- the Congressman across the Connecticut River, Representative Peter Welch (D-VT).

While my understanding is that Congressman Welch has yet to make a formal endorsement in the Presidential race, an article this week in the Burlington Free Press underscores the strengths which draw me, and many others, to Chris Dodd.

In that article, Representative Welch announced that he had introduced the most bills, resolutions, and amendments this past year among the freshman Democrats in Congress (some 29 measures in all).  And, in addition to these 29 initiatives, Welch announced that more than 50% of them got approval in the US House.

Shows you what experience can bring. 

Welch came to DC with more than a dozen years of legislative experience in Vermont, including service as the top state Senator in Green Mountain State.  I remember seeing him at a candidates forum at Dartmouth in early 2006.  It was not simply his command of the issues which impressed me, and many others, but the way in which he described how to get bills written and passed that favored our kind of politics. 

It's one thing to stand for principle.  It's another thing to know how to make that principle become law.  And experience, my friends, is the difference between those two perspectives.

Chris Dodd has the most experience, by far, of ANY of the Democrats running for President.  He is the most qualified and most prepared, ready to get to work on Day One in way that far surpasses any of the other candidates.

Even Hillary.

First, we know while Obama and Edwards campaign on strong principles, their work experience simply does not convince me that they can meet the demands we face in January 2009. 

And Richardson?  His resume is much stronger than the others, but his willingness to say almost anything to be elected makes me worried.  And if you want to know how he works under pressure, ask Wen Ho Lee, whom Richardson (then the Secretary of Energy) helped to fire illegally and keep in solitary confinement for nearly year, only to become part of a settlement that saw one federal judge suggest that an "abuse of power" had occurred.

So that leaves Dodd vs. the junior Senator from New York, a well-known woman who has no legislative accomplishments to which to point in her brief 7-year tenure in the Senate. 

Never mind her long history of poor judgment -- from health care, to Iraq, to Bill himself.  She's the kind of person who holds a finger in the air to tell you which way the wind is blowing. 

And that's what draws me again and again to Dodd.  The polls are terrible.  The guy with the white hair is just not doing it in this TMZ age. 

But we're not changing our stripes..  We're not going on Second Life. 

Instead we are standing on the Lombardi-like principles that Representative Peter Welch embodies.  There's talk, and there's action.  Do you want a Democratic nominee who says anything, but whose actions mirror a triangle or some other compromised geometric figure?  It's time for leadership.  Our country needs it.

If you want action, and real change in 2009, vote for Chris Dodd.

When Preparation Meets Opportunity (what it means to support Chris Dodd in early October 2007)

“Is there anybody alive out there?”

Sometimes, it feels a bit like this line from Bruce Springsteen’s new single, “Radio Nowhere.” 

On the one hand, we could not be in worse shape.  Poll numbers routinely show the senior Senator from Connecticut polling no more than 1-2% of the New Hampshire or Iowa primary electorate.  The fact that we just pulled a ton of staff out of New Hampshire to fight in Iowa is not very comforting either.

Sure, some 70% of likely New Hampshire voters have NOT made a final decision. 

But still we trail most other candidates.  Whether it’s money raised, number of endorsees, or ink & airtime in the top media outlets, it’s clear that Chris Dodd is not the sexy, hot, breathless candidate of 2007.

So, we’re buried, right?

Wrong.

Fact is, we could not be happier.  In addition to knowing that at huge majority of New Hampshire Democratic voters have NOT made a final decision, we believe several other factors warrant optimism. We have raised as much money as John Kerry did in 2004 at this time, and believe that we have more than enough funds to compete in the early states in 2008. 

We also have the endorsement of the Firefighters Union, the very group who helped John Kerry when he was 25 points behind Howard Dean at this time four years ago (remember, I was and remain a strong Howard Dean supporter).

What’s more, we find ourselves in the strong, warm light of praise about our candidate and his team.  From Chris Dodd himself, to the staffers and volunteers who make this campaign come alive, there is near universal praise for the campaign we are waging.

Example number one:  New Hampshire political insider Monica Smith.  In a recent email, she wrote the following: 

“Chris Dodd has the best organization on the ground. It's a pleasure to watch; sort of like following thirty-six holes of Tiger Woods on the golf course. Some may be under and some may be over par, but one always gets the sense of watching a professional. Which, considering that Dodd has been in eight elections (starting, it should be noted, before the permanent consultants and pollsters attempted a take-over of the process), is to be expected. In other words, one gets the sense that he knows what he's doing. So, when he mentions his experience in his stump speech, his audience can see that he's speaking the truth…. So, what do you think?  Shall we take a chance on Dodd?  I know I'd feel comfortable with him in the White House.”

Example number two:  even New Hampshire outsiders suggest that Dodd might be the best candidate awaiting Democrats in the wings. This month’s issue of The Atlantic magazine provides the details of how the Dodd campaign is far ahead of anyone else in the field. 

“[Dodd’s] campaign itself is near flawless; his argument is pitch-perfect and attuned to his audience. He regularly creates landfill between himself and his opponents; he's the first out of the box with attractive policy ideas, like a carbon tax. And, especially for a campaign run largely by veterans of Washington, he's used emerging technologies more fruitfully than just about everyone else….Dodd's lack of progress in the polls might be frustrating, but he can take heart in knowing that his innovations and policy boldness may outlive his candidacy.”

Perhaps. 

But the cool solace of being ahead of the curve is not what Chris Dodd, or his team, want to be their legacy.  Our goal is not simply to win for the sake of winning.

Take note, Senator Hillary “I’m-In-It-To-Win-It” Clinton.

Instead, our goal is to be elected with a game-changing agenda on Iraq, health care, the Constitution, energy, the environment, and public service that restores confidence in American values and action.

Our team rejects the safety of small-ball politics that Clinton and Obama prefer.  Instead, we want an experienced Democrat in the White House on January 21, 2009.  A candidate who will not need on-the-job training, a candidate who will also bring a fresh face to the task of returning this nation to the principles that it holds most closely.

A few weeks ago at the debate at Dartmouth College, Senators Clinton, Obama, and Edwards reminded everyone why their campaigns are tired. 

Simply put, each of them is prepared to keep troops in Iraq until 2013. 

Senator Dodd was the only candidate committed to removing the troops in his first term, as well as voting now (not later) against further financial commitments to this war.

Yes, it’s gonna be a long walk home to victory in Iowa and New Hampshire, but the Dodd team is ready.  While the mainstream media would have you believe in glory Clinton days (cue the 90s music), we believe our moment will come sometime over the next three months.  The fact is, more than two-thirds of Democrat voters want someone new in the White House.  We believe we offer a responsible choice -- experienced leadership coupled with the fresh perspective America wants. 

With Chris Dodd, there won’t be the baggage of the past, or the inexperience of today, in light of tomorrow’s challenges. 

With Chris Dodd, you get a Democrat you can trust.  And support.  Today.