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The three Democratic frontrunners rode Chris Dodd’s
coattails today when they announced
their opposition to Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey. Obama called
Mukasey’s “professed ignorance” on waterboarding “appalling.” Edwards said if
waterboarding was used in the
Spanish Inquisition, it shouldn’t be used in America’s fight against terrorism. Clinton looked inward,
saying she was “deeply troubled” by Mukasey’s Senate testimony.
But Dodd was the first candidate to speak out against
Mukasey’s nomination on Sunday after he finished
his Meet the Press interview. On Monday,
sensing an anti-Mukasey vacuum, he held a conference call with journalists to reassert
his opposition. For two days he had all of the anti-Mukasey headlines to
himself.
But now the frontrunners have entered the fray. The three
candidates all voiced opposition to both Mukasey’s waterboarding position and
his support of an expanded executive branch. Dodd is not nearly as upset about
Mukasey’s wishy-washy
stance on waterboarding as he is about the AG nominee’s support
of expanded executive power. But his decision to speak out will likely force the
frontrunners to add this issue to the already
packed agenda for this evening’s debate.
Dodd is doing what a third tier candidate is supposed to do.
He’s changing the conversation and pressuring the frontrunners into making
decisions. If he’s smart, he’ll brag about his trendsetting tonight at the
debate.