Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) got mix of good but mostly bad news with the latest Quinnipiac University Poll testing his long held Senate seat.
Overall, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, former Congressman Rob Simmons (R-CT) has increased his lead over Dodd and now leads him 48%-39%. In May Simmons had only lead Dodd 45%-39%
Dodd also polls poorly for a longtime incumbent against poorly known Republicans in the race. Dodd is tied with former ambassador (and not former US House Speaker) Tom Foley with 42% each, and barely leads state Sen. Sam Caligiuri and investor Peter Schiff.
The poll also tested the primaries on both sides of the isle. Dodd still has some strengh left, at least with Democrats, leading former aide to Vice President Al Gore Merrick Alpert 52%-18% in the primary. On the GOP side, Simmons holds a strong 37 point lead over Foley and Caligiuri, both of whom didnt break 5%, and Schiff, who got a whopping 0%.
The best news for Dodd perhaps? Its still only 2009.
Check out the CQ story here: http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/po…
Clearly it’s still fairly early so I’m not ready to write Dodd’s obituary just yet, and he deserves some deference for his long and distinguished career, but if he’s not well on his way to turn this around by, say, next February or March, then he needs to step aside. I can’t imagine he wouldn’t, since he’d surely want to end his career with some dignity left, as opposed to get stomped by 10+ points by a tier-2 candidate. The fact that we’d be heavily favored to hold this seat without him has to also factor into his plans; I can’t imagine Richard Blumenthal or Rosa DeLauro being down nine points.
I can’t imagine someone who just lost his CT house seat in 2006 beating Dodd in a state with >50% Dem registration. And you’re right – it’s still only 2009. Plenty of time for Dodd to put his problems behind him. Dems will fall in line just enough for him to win by 5 or so.
I still am not worried about Dems losing any Senate seats unless Castle jumps in the DE race, which I don’t expect.
The House is where it’s at for the Republicans in 2010. And maybe the Governors, but they have a lot to defend there too.