While Clinton and Obama scrap for fundraising advantage and national press coverage, two of their lesser-known rivals are quietly using the Senate stage to great effect this week.
Chris Dodd is continuing to tout his plan to stall any Democratic bill offering legal immunity to the phone companies that cooperated with the Bush administration's potentially illegal wire-tapping. Dodd's quest has won him kudos from liberal bloggers such as Atrios, who named one Washington Post reporter "wanker of the day" for suggesting that the snow-haired New Englander was capitalizing on the issue to boost his White House bid. Now Dodd has written to all 99 of his colleagues asking for partners in his effort - a call that may be heard loudly in Clinton and Obama's offices.
Joseph Biden is keeping busy as well. He will unveil a new crime bill tomorrow surrounded by law enforcement groups, reminding voters in the process that Bill Clinton's successful crime crackdown in 1994 came not from then-First Lady Hillary but from Biden himself.
