Welcome to the party, Chris, just leave your jacket in the bedroom

I just got an email from Chris Dodd endorsing Barack Obama for president. Most people don't realize this, but Dodd actually ran for president a few months back.

The endorsement comes on a long line for the Illinois Senator. I don't know what Dodd is looking for, why he suddenly "found religion" with polls showing Obama with a 16- point national lead.

Dodd writes:

I'm deeply proud to be the first 2008 Democratic presidential candidate to endorse Barack Obama. He is ready to be President. And I am ready to support him - to work with him and for him and help elect him our 44th President.

Put simply, I believe Barack Obama is uniquely qualified to help us face this housing crisis, create good jobs, strengthen America's families in this 21st century global economy, unite the world against terrorism and end the war in Iraq - and perhaps most importantly, call the American people to shared service and sacrifice. In this campaign, he has drawn millions of voters into politics for the first time in their lives and shown us that we are united by so much more than that which divides us.

I suppose Dodd is looking for a leg up for a VP slot, but I suspect that's a line already wrapped around the block.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) Endorses Senator Barack Obama

Senator Chris Dodd backs Obama in the Illinois senator's campaign for the Presidency, according to Reuters. Another blow to Senator Clinton in a long, hard list of blows. The Teamsters backed Obama, he leads among much of Clinton's base and unless you're blind and deaf, he definately leads among the media.

It's an understatement to say this is not a good time for Senator Clinton. One can always argue that Obama has always wanted to be President, but no one knows the process better than Clinton, who was involved in two consecutive presidential campaigns. She had the machines, the base and former President Clinton. The machines proved unable to come through in the clutch, Obama has quite fatally hemorrhaged her base and the former President, once universally beloved among all Democrats, has proved to be a liability she can't seem to control (which, interestingly enough, cuts to the heart of her experience arguments. Just whose experience does Obama's pale in comparison to?)

No one points out these set of event and their consequences better than Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post. He pointed out last Friday how mortally wounded Clinton is, and why "The Comeback Kid" will not be a label identifies her.

Ya burnt!: Dodd goes after O

(For those scoring at home, that's two straight 30 Rock references)

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro:

The Dodd campaign sent out an e-mail that looked like it could have come straight from the RNC. The headline: “Happy (Belated) Anniversary, Senator Obama.”

The text: “Today, the Obama campaign is celebrating the 5th anniversary of the speech that then-State Senator Barack Obama gave opposing the invasion of Iraq. But unfortunately, they forgot to celebrate another anniversary. July 26th marked the 3rd anniversary of the New York Times story in which Obama admitted that he did not know how he would have voted on the Iraq resolution had he been serving in the United States Senate at the time of the vote.”

The campaign also oppo-dumps the actual quote from the Times interview.

Liz: Why are you wearing a tux?
Jack: It's after six. What am I, a farmer?