Chris Dodd is turning to one of his greatest assets as he campaigns in Iowa for the Democratic presidential nomination.
His hair.

The man has a fabulous head of hair.
A head of hair the nation could stand up and salute.
The kind of hair that other world leaders would envy.

And to that end, Dodd’s newest television ad airing in Iowa is about his hair.
In it, an actor playing a television news reporter (rather hairy himself), asks Dodd why his hair is white.
Dodd talks about his achievements, and how they gave him white hair because he worked so hard at them.
And sitting there through the entire commercial is a white hare (weird, really…a touch of David Lynch).

I saw the ad on YouTube, and (I hate to say it) it reminds me of a really bad Brooks File from, say, 1979. The sincerity and the effort is there, but it just doesn’t work.

Dodd is much smarter and much funnier than he comes off in the ad.
I’ve covered him since 1974, when he was a freshman in the House of Representatives, and he’s as knowledgeable and likable as they come.

And from day one, he’s been a master of the media.
For radio reporters, the length of his answers would even vary depending on the format of your station. (Top 40? 15 second answers. News/talk? 20-to-30 seconds. He was THAT good even then.)
And whether you agree with his politics or not, the guy knows what he’s talking about.

But this is what it’s come to. A qualified candidate talking about his hair to get votes.

Oh well. If he ever turns from politics, the hair alone qualifies him to be a local television news anchor.
Of course, that’s been done.