Latest poll has Chris Dodd down by 16 to Rob Simmons - time for him to announce he is not running

[NewJeffCT]

Dodd is getting swamped by three Republicans in the latest poll from the respected pollsters at Quinnipiac University. It is time for him to announce he will not seek re-election in 2010 to make room for a Democrat who has a chance.

He trails Rob Simmons by an astounding 16 points at 50% to 34%. He trails little known state senator, the ultra-conservative Sam Caliguri, by 4 points, 41% to 37%, and he trails former ambassador Tom Foley by 8 points, 43% to 35%.

In no case does Dodd get over 37%. In fact, the Q-poll says that 59% will definitely not vote for Dodd.

Against Simmons, Dodd barely gets over 50% among Democrats and Dodd’s overall approval ratings among Democrats are astonishing, only 51% approve of his performance.

from the Q-Poll:

Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a possible Republican challenger, 50 - 34 percent in the 2010 Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today, as voters disapprove 58 - 33 percent of the job the Democratic incumbent is doing, his lowest approval rating ever.

Matched against two other possible Republican challengers, Sen. Dodd trails both State Sen. Sam Caligiuri 41 - 37 percent and former ambassador Tom Foley 43 - 35 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

In the Dodd-Simmons matchup, Democrats back Dodd by only 58 - 27 percent while Simmons leads 87 - 6 percent among Republicans and 56 - 25 percent among independent voters.

The incumbent's approval is down from 49 - 44 percent March 10.

A lot more at the link:
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1284.xml?ReleaseID=1283&What=&strArea=;&strTime=0

Dodd took a popularity hit when he moved his family to Iowa in his quixotic bid for the presidency. The move garnered him one delegate out of the 200+ awarded in the Iowa caucus.

Then, the pseudo-scandal of his getting a favorable mortgage deal from the disgraced Countrywide mortgage company. Even though it has seemingly not panned out into anything illegal, Dodd’s hemming and hawing for months on releasing information looked really bad to Connecticut voters.

The real scandal might be the cottage in Ireland, where Dodd seemingly got a below market for his property there, but that story is still developing.

The capper however, has been the fiasco related to the AIG bonuses and Dodd’s changing answers on what happened.

It is time for Chris Dodd to announce he will not seek re-election. Make way for Dick Blumenthal, Rosa DeLauro, John Larson, Susan Bysiewicz, Joe Courtney, Chris Murphy or even Ned Lamont.

[cali]

1. agreed. but he won't.

no way will Dodd retire.

[NewJeffCT]

2. Then there is a good chance we'll lose the seat

and potentially have Simmons there for 6-12 years or longer.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. Lamont?

:shrug:

[tomm2thumbs]

4. maybe someone can ask him nicely to leave

like the other 50+ senators

[WI_DEM]

5. I agree, it's a shame it couldn't have happened to Lieberman, but Dodd is our most endangered dem in

2010 and it would be better for him to make a graceful exit and let somebody else who has a decent chance to run.

[ColbertWatcher]

14. No kidding what's up with Connecticut Dems?

Do we need to start scrutinizing the party there?

[w4rma]

6. Geithner and Summers cost us Dodd and possibly his Senate seat, too. Why is anyone defending them?

"The capper however, has been the fiasco related to the AIG bonuses and Dodd’s changing answers on what happened."

[NewJeffCT]

7. The media tells us that it's Dodd's fault, and

his popularity was already in decline before AIG.

[Winterblues]

8. Dodd is a very popular Democrat so this should be a dire warning to Democrats

There is no, and I mean NO reason in Hell Republicans should stand a chance at all in any election in America. That they not only stand a chance but are way out in front should set off warning bells. Democrats are screwing up Royally. They are blowing an opportunity of a lifetime. It is the people that they are supposed to represent not HUGE (to big to fail) business's. It is like they are shoving it in our face that we don't matter one tiny bit to them. Contracts for multi million dollar bonuses from an almost bankrupt company MUST be honored but Contracts made in good faith by auto workers don't matter one bit. They can be set aside for the "good" of the HUGE Corporations. Everything and it appears EVERYTHING is geared for the good of the HUGE corporations. Health Care...Everyone MUST have insurance. That is their plan. Force every person in America to buy health insurance from private insurance companies. Insurance Companies are going to make out better than Bush*'s buddies have, while the people still struggle just to get by. I am only one person but it is becoming apparent to me my vote doesn't matter so why should I even bother? I will never ever vote for a Republican but I can just not vote..

[NewJeffCT]

10. he was popular

but, he's dug his own grave.

[closeupready]

9. Dodd needs to go.

n/t

[KharmaTrain]

11. Double-Edge Dagger

Dodd played both ends against the middle here and could lose big. 18 months ago he was a Presidential contender and now he's the poster child of how Wall Street and the beltway are one in the same.

Connecticut has a lot of insurance and banking business that not only made money for many of Dodd's constituents but also pumped a lot of money into state coffers...and then into his own campaign as well. It's like the auto industry throwing money at their Michigan Senators or Microsoft having a lot of influence with Washington State...it's "looking after the folks back home"...or at least Dodd thought. Then when the mess collapsed, he was torn between his business interests and those of the people and made what now appears to be a major mistake. Is it fatal? It's hard to tell...there's still a long way to go until the first votes of 2010 are cast.

Surely Dodd has to be looking at how Lieberman won his re-election and can rely on his old pal Joe, no matter how wounded he may be, to put a lot of foot soldiers to help him win both a primary and the general. The fun will be how the state GOOP reacts...if Dodd were to lose in a primary and try his own third party run, would they support him or split votes for Johnson.

[NewJeffCT]

12. Joe had no foot soldiers in 2006

His support came mainly from Republicans who abandoned their candidate to vote for Lieberman, as well as some Democrats & moderates that were fooled by Lieberman's words.

[KharmaTrain]

13. He Had The AFL-CIO

http://www.thechief-leader.com/news/2006/0714/news/012.html

Mr. Lamont has gotten enough traction that Senator Lieberman announced last week that he will begin collecting signatures in order to gain ballot access as an independent.

The move would guarantee Mr. Lieberman's presence in the general election, regardless of the Democratic primary results Aug. 8. The Senator received the endorsement of the Connecticut AFL-CIO at last month's convention, though there was considerable support for Mr. Lamont during the voice-vote.

Rove and RNC money also poured in, but it was many union Democrats who crossed over that made the difference. Dodd has as strong union ties...again, would the RNC dump Johnson and support an independent Dodd? Would the unions?