Candidate Review - Assassination of Benazir Bhutto - Chris Dodd

Well Chris Dodd has a banner at the top of his website, leading to his statement on the Bhutto assassination. That's nice to see.

"Today's news from Pakistan is both shocking and saddening. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I have had the opportunity to travel to Pakistan and come to know Former Prime Minister Bhutto very well over the years. I spoke to her personally several weeks ago and have stayed in close contact with her since. She was a respected leader who played an important part in moving Pakistan toward democracy.

"As we recognize the loss of a leader today, we must also recognize the implication of today's tragedy to the security of the region and to that of the United States.

"At this critical time we must do everything in our power to help Pakistan continue the path toward democracy and full elections. Our first priority must be to ensure stability in this critical nuclear state.

"The United States should also stand ready to provide assistance in investigating this heinous act. And as Pakistan perpetrators to justice, it should also demonstrate that it will not allow such violence to derail democracy and proceed with elections in a timely manner."

I like this. I know I just took Richardson to task for interfering in Pakistani Affairs, but he was calling for Musharraf to step down. That's different than saying elections already planned should go forward.

Presumably you've already guessed I'm doing these in alphabetical order; it's not my fault a lot of Democrats have first names that come early in the alphabet.