Dodd Announces Presidential Run

Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd announced today that he will seek the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, joining four other declared candidates who wait to see just how crowded this field is ultimately going to get.

The five-term Senator, who has been in Congress since 1974, says that he will skip forming an exploratory committee and will jump right into being "a full-fledged candidate" for president.

"I'm a fresh face to a lot of people in the country," Dodd said. "I know how to do this. I know what has to be done."

The 62-year-old Dodd joins fellow Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa in the Democratic field that is surprisingly large at this early stage of the election cycle.

“I’m not as well-known as some of the others candidates who’ll be running, but a year from now we’ll still be talking about the first caucuses and primaries, and 12 months is more than a lifetime in politics,” he said. “I decided I wanted to get off the — out of the bleachers and on the arena floor and make my case.”

Dodd has been married to Jackie Marie Clegg since 1999 and they have two young daughters, ages 5 and 22 months.