| Fifth-term
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., entered the presidential race in January 2007,
admitting his status as a dark horse for the Democratic nomination. He has
hammered that underdog message throughout his early campaign work, telling voters
in South Carolina, "The person with the most money doesn't always win...
The people of South Carolina don't need the national media to tell them who's
already won." Dodd is perhaps best known for his work on health care
and children's issues in the Senate. With Republican support, he spearheaded 1993's
Family and Medical Leave Act, which allowed employees to take extended unpaid
leave to care for a family member or manage an illness. As a senior member
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Dodd is a leading voice on Latin American
issues and has become an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, renouncing his 2002
vote that authorized President Bush's entry into war with Iraq. Dodd has opposed
an escalation of U.S. troops in Iraq. Dodd has never lost an election in
his home state; however, he faces a challenge in securing his party's nomination
in a field of better-known Democrats. Before his election to the Senate
in 1980, Dodd served three terms in the U.S. House. From 1995 to 1997, he chaired
the Democratic National Committee. | 
