Dodd's Team Creates a Pre-"Daily Show"

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) appeared on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" last night for a few minutes of witty banter, following what is becoming a well-worn path laid by candidates trying to reach a younger audience.

But before the "Daily Show" camera in New York started rolling, Dodd's team had its own cameras filming.

The campaign put up a Web page yesterday afternoon to bring visitors behind the scenes at the show. At four, Dodd was filmed prepping with his communications director Beneva Schulte for the interview.

"You'd hardly know you were walking into the Daily Show from looks outside the building," the Web site said. "A non-descript "607" awning hangs atop a door leading backstage."

Later, a video was posted of Stewart visiting Dodd in the show's green room, along with several behind-the-scenes photos.

"We thought it was an innovative and creative way to allow people ... to come along and have a backstage pass to the show," said Schulte.

Appearing well after 11 p.m. last night, Dodd quipped, "I'm here to announce that I'm here," playing off the non-announcement by Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) the same day.

The next day, the lingering effects of a "Daily Show" appearance continued. According to the Dodd campaign, its Web site received double the number of visits, many of them in the middle of the night when college-age kids tend to browse the Web.

Several liberal bloggers praised the behind the scenes idea, but what the campaign called a "major update" was a posting on the Comedy Central show's blog:

"Well, here's a first: last night, Senator and 2008 Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd appeared as a guest on The Daily Show, and blogged the entire experience (including green room video of the Senator and Jon) on his website. This was a fascinating look behind the scenes of the show even for us, and a surprisingly cool thing for a Presidential candidate to do. Senator Dodd, we salute both your commitment to fiscal responsibility and your web-savvy."