Dodd's candidacy...

When I was in New Hampshire two weeks ago with U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd as he campaigned for the Democratic nomination for president, I reported on a number of incidents over the four days which led me to believe that our senator may not be wasting his time - although polls would suggest otherwise.

One such example was a conversation I had with Nashua Deputy Fire Chief Mike O'Brien.

O'Brien, who was just elected to the New Hampshire legislature last November, said he had no intentions of jumping on anyone's bandwagon this early in the game. But after receiving phone calls from Connecticut firefighters supporting Dodd's candidacy, he decided to take a closer look at the candidate - and liked what he saw. He not only is chairing Dodd's Nashua campaign committee, O'Brien is also making phone calls to other firefighters throughout the state telling them that Dodd is one of the good guys.

And now appears the senator's campaign is going to get a major boost from that group. Sometime this week, the International Association of Firefighters will formally throw its support behind Dodd's candidacy. The firefighters were the first union to jump on John Kerry's campaign four years ago...and in New Hampshire, firefighting unions take politics very seriously.

That's potentially a very strong army of supporters who could be critical come primary day in turning out the vote.

I came back from New Hampshire and said I wouldn't rule this guy out of the hunt quite yet, despite what the polls may be showing. I think he still has a shot of finishing in the top three in New Hampshire.