It's time for a change in Chris Dodd's seat

Our state's senior senator, Democrat Chris Dodd, is in the midst of the campaign of his life. And the election isn't until November 2010.

Several promising Republican challengers have recently made official announcements stating their intentions to run against Sen. Dodd, including former Congressman Rob Simmons and State Sen. Sam Caligiuri. As a recent lightning rod for a plethora of self-inflicted controversies, Dodd now finds himself in the uncomfortable position of having to lie in the bed that he made himself.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why Dodd's popularity has dropped so precipitously in recent months. Hartford Courant columnist Helen Ubiñas phrased it best: "Could be the one about the funky mortgage deals, the precious Irish cottage, the obscene AIG bonuses or even the latest about his tanking poll numbers. Reader's choice, really."

Speaking of polls, a recent Quinnipiac University poll released last week found that Dodd is more vulnerable now than at any other point in his five-term, 30-year senate career. Dodd's approval rating among Connecticut voters is a meager 33 percent, a whopping 16 percent lower than just a month ago (since that earlier poll back in March, Sen. Dodd admitted to inserting language in the recent economic stimulus bill that ensured AIG could pay out its executive bonuses). When asked whom they would support in a race between Dodd and UConn's Rep. Joe Courtney's Republican predecessor, Rob Simmons, 50 percent of respondents favored Simmons while only 34 percent favored Dodd. Republican State Sen. Sam Caligiuri edged Dodd in the recent poll by a margin of 41 percent to 37 percent. For a sitting senator to be down 16 percent (as is the case with Rob Simmons) in a two-person poll is almost unheard of. In a sign that he is gearing up for a fight, Dodd recently hired political heavyweight advisor Jay Howser to manage his campaign.

Time is the one thing still working to Dodd's advantage: with more than a year and half until the election, Dodd has a political eternity to rebuild his image and reputation here in the state. But that rebuilding effort will be a monumental task. After so many lapses in judgment, voters will be hard-pressed to forget all of Dodd's mistakes come voting time.

Once a celebrated senator who brought great pride to Connecticut, Chris Dodd has done little in recent memory for the betterment of anyone other than himself. The people of Connecticut have taken a backseat to his own interests. In between taking sweetheart mortgage deals from failed mortgage giant Countrywide (for which he is now under investigation by a Senate ethics panel) and ensuring that the AIG executives who contributed so many millions of dollars over the years to his campaigns received their bonuses from bailed out insurance giant AIG, Sen. Dodd has struggled to find time to serve the people who elected him. Dodd has become more of a liability than an asset to the people of Connecticut.

If Dodd's poll numbers against Republicans don't speak for themselves, consider this: Dodd has lost so much respect among his constituents that some of the state's Democratic party leaders are said to be considering challenging Dodd in the party's primary. Such a vote of no-confidence says something: Chris Dodd has lost his way. When Dodd's own colleagues are considering breaking established precedent by challenging a incumbent senator in a party primary, it becomes clear that, as President Obama said, "It's time for a change."