I would like to forget about all the politics for a moment. I know Dodd is not a conventional pick because he does not symbolize Clinton's faction of the party, and he doesn't come from a swing state (although Rasmussen's polling does make you think twice) and he kinda-sorta doesn't add to the ticket an emphasis on issues that Obama does not already have. But his conduct as a US Senator, his life and his legacy as a politician who stands for what he believes in and doesn't give an inch to special interests.

I'd like Barack Obama to choose Chris Dodd as his running mate.

Chris Dodd was born in 1944, the waning days of World War II, in Willimantic, Connecticut. His father, Thomas Dodd, was a US Senator at the time. After graduating high school, Dodd earned a degree in English Literature from Providence College. Hearing that it was his calling to make the world a better place, Dodd volunteered for the Peace Corps and travelled overseas to Costa Rica (he also speaks fluent Spanish). After leaving the Peace Corps, Dodd became a member of the Army Reserve.

Dodd continued his academic career by earning his Juris Doctor from the University of Louisville in 1972. The same year, he began practicing law in New London, Connecticut. As a final note on a personal level, Chris Dodd has been divorced once and was married again to his current wide, Jackie Clegg, in 1999.

Chris Dodd has a long record in Congress. Dodd was elected to the House in 1974, part of the "Watergate Class" that was swept into power after Nixon shamefully resigned. He was elected to the Senate in 1980, where he began a steak of impressive legislative accomplishments. He authored the Family and Medical Leave Act. He pioneered the raise in the minimum wage. He's become a champion of children's issues, founding the Senate Children's Caucus - which lead to the National Head Start Associating naming him the "Senator of the Decade" in 1990. He was one of the main Senate defenders of Clinton during the impeachment "scandal". I could go on and on, but I don't want to talk about the past because this campaign is about the future. So, let's talk about what Chris Dodd has done to earn his bonafides recently.

1. <b>Chris Dodd was the first Democrat to come out in support of Ned Lamont after he won the Senate Democratic primary in Connecticut in 2006.</b> In fact, he did so even though many urged him to hang back and wait for polls to come in depicting the state of the race. He did commercials, GOTV... everything in support of a tried-and-true liberal candidate for Senate.

2. Although he voted for the Iraq war resolution in 2002, he has since repented for that vote strongly. He has also become one of the most strident critics of the war. He believed the Congress should have blocked the President's surge, and put teeth behind his words by voting against war funding in May 2007. <b>He was the only Presidential candidate to co-sponsor legislation requiring the withdrawal of troops from Iraq in 16 months. </b>

3. Chris Dodd led the fight against the telecommunication corporations and their attempt to gain a get-out-of-jail free card from lawsuits resulting from their participating in the Bush administration's illegal warantless wiretapping program. In fact, I think it is safe to say that, <b>without Chris Dodd, the telecommuncation corporations would now be enjoying full immunity for their actions</b>. He was the fighter, he was the leader, he was the one that put the backbone in the Democratic caucus.

4. <b>Chris Dodd has also stood up for our Constitution elsewhere, co-authoring legislation that restores habaes corpus and makes sure that we are following the Geneva Conventions around the world</b>. He is standing up against Administration efforts to formalize torture into US policy. These stands earned him numerous accolades from the ACLU, Human Rights Watch and others.

5. Chris Dodd has been on the forefront of the energy crisis. <b>He was the first Presidential candidate to announce support for "cap-and-tax" carbon emissions regulations and introduced legislation to provide $50 billion a year as an Apollo Program for renewable energy</b>. He has received a 94% lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters.

6. <b>Chris Dodd has become a leader against credit industry abuses</b>. He authored the legislation Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which would have enacted consumer protections against predatory lenders.

7. <b>Chris Dodd was the first of the Presidential candidates to show backbone and endorse Barack Obama for President.</b>

I'm not going to sit here and pretend that everything Chris Dodd touches turns to hot babes and pepperoni pizzas. Chris Dodd has had a few slip-ups in the past, like his support for the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For me, his support of NAFTA is a negative.

So, what does Chris Dodd add to the ticket?

1. Well, for one, he is Roman Catholic, which is a constituency that helped doom Obama's efforts in Pennslyvania and Ohio. Also, his experience in Costa Rica as a member of the Peace Corps and his tough stands on Latin American foreign policy has earned him the overwhelming respect of the Hispanic community -- helping in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.

2. Second, he is a talented speaker. He's no Obama, but Chris Dodd can excite a room just as much as the next guy. Also, Chris Dodd is a spirited campaigner... he knows how to work the small towns and rural areas. He's the only Democrat running for Senate in 24 years to win the majority of Connecticut's townships.

3. Chris Dodd's long record of support for a woman's right-to-choose could allay concerns among Clinton's female supporters that Obama might choose a conservative Democrat to satisfy the old guard.

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I know, in the end, that the choice of a Vice President rests with Obama and Obama only. But I hope that he selects Chris Dodd, because I think an Obama-Dodd ticket is a good thing for Democrats and a good thing for America. At the very least, he should be on any one of the ten "straw poll" threads that I've seen since waking up this morning 3 hours ago. Please recommend this diary, if you think Chris Dodd's name should be more prominent in the VP hunt.