U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat, came to Burlington on Thursday morning to campaign for Democratic congressional candidate Peter Welch.
At lightly attended news conference at the College & Lake street Atrium, Dodd gave Welch the nod. Dodd said he has met Welch several times and heard a lot about him from the senator who has the office next to his in Washington - one Patrick Leahy. Though Dodd hasn't met Welch's Republican opponents, he said Welch is his choice. "I just know I've got a first-class individual in Peter Welch," he said.
The gathering focused on the subject of education. Dodd serves on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, with Vermont's other senator, Jim Jeffords.
With Dodd and several members of the Vermont education community behind him, Welch called for making education more affordable, reforming the No Child Left Behind Act, and increasing math, science and language education. Welch crticitized the "Republican Congress" for cutting higher education aid and placing unfunded mandates on local schools with NCLB.
You won't likely see much disagreement on any of this from Welch's Republican opponents, Martha Rainville and Mark Shepard. They all say NCLB mandates are not a good fit for small, rural schools in Vermont. They all decry the cost of a college education. They all think we need to do more in the way of math and science education.
How do voters distinguish between them on this issue? Welch goes back to his main mantra to answer that question. He will support a congressional leadership that will restore funding for education. "If we're going to restore that funding, we have to have new leadership," he said.
Rainville hopes more moderate Republicans will be elected to Congress this fall, campaign spokesman Brendan McKenna said. "She's very hopeful that the mid-term elections will give the moderates a stronger voice in the Republican Party," he said.
Dodd, by the way, is caught in the middle of a thorny situation in Connecticut. He supported his seatmate, Sen. Joe Lieberman, in the recent primary election there, right up until Lieberman lost to Ned Lamont (who was in Burlington last week to raise money for Democracy for America). Now, Dodd is supporting Lamont and will campaign for him this fall, he said. He's among those who've asked Lieberman not to run as an independent, but he doesn't expect Lieberman to follow that advice.
Terri Hallenbeck
