Dodd won't join GOP filibuster of Warner anti-surge resolution

Joe interviewed Democratic presidential candidate Christopher Dodd (D-CT) this morning at the DNC winter meeting (we'll have the video of the interview later this afternoon over at Politics TV). Dodd made a few newsworthy points.

1. He will not join the conservative pro-Bush filibuster of the Warner anti-surge resolution, even though he does not support it. This is great news. Now we need to hear from Senator Feingold. Dodd says that he wants the Senate to debate the Iraq war, noting that it has been a long time since that body debated the war.

2. Dodd, whose home state of Connecticut now has statewide civil unions, says he supports civil unions for gay couples, and he supports amending the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to permit couples in civil unions to receive the over 1,400 federal benefits that go to married couples, such as social security partner benefits. Currently, DOMA bans couples, even in civil unions, from receiving any of the federal benefits that accrue to married couples. Dodd also talked about the gay issue in terms of his children, and the world he wants for his kids if they are gay. That was interesting.

More to come, including my interview with Wesley Clark.