I have never seen U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd as humble as he appeared to be on the March 15 edition of Face the State on WFSB.
He spent a full half hour with Dennis House acknowledging his low approval rating, explaining his real estate transactions, his mortgage, the presidential pardon he got for a friend, his run for the White House, his move to Iowa and how he senses the electorate is looking to make a change.
He never showed a negative emotion throughout the entire exchange, even when House delicately brought up the memory of his father. No anger, resentment or arrogance. He was a public servant, there to answer any questions he needed to. Just a regular guy, like Dennis himself. If only it were that easy.
Dodd had done a little media tour that weekend in the hope of stopping the bleeding following his handling of a mortgage scandal and a new series of articles about a cottage he owns in Ireland. But the damage done to Dodd’s standing with Connecticut voters can’t be recovered through a few select media appearances. It took 30 years to get here and it may take more than the 20 months he has before the next election to make things right. That’s why there’s nearly a half dozen Republicans running, or considering running against him in 2010.
No matter how well Dodd can explain any of the individual strikes against him, his bigger problem is a pattern of behavior that has developed over the years. His judgment can now be brought into question. Was he really serving the best interests of Connecticut when he served as chairman of the national Democratic Party? Did it really make any sense for him to run for president? What did moving to Iowa tell us about his focus? When he sought a presidential pardon for Edward Downe, was he helping a man who had turned his life around, or abusing his position to help a friend? And what about his competing stories on AIG?
The answers almost don’t matter at this point. That’s what the latest public opinion polls are saying. It’s not so much about job performance, it’s about staying so long at the game people are beginning to ask if there’s an alternative. It doesn’t help that so many of the questions around Dodd seem focused on life outside Connecticut. It’s about Washington, New York, Iowa and Ireland. Places far removed from where real people are getting pink slips and foreclosure notices in the state he is supposed to represent.
It may be possible that Dodd set another trap for himself toward the end of his interview with House. When the subject of Joe Lieberman came up, Dodd declared that his senate colleague (who has had his own bout with wanderlust) is now back in the Democratic Party and that he should be embraced by the family like a returning son. Only the clock prevented Dodd from saying that Lieberman should run for re-election as a Democrat in 2012.
Certainly, Lieberman seems to be making a concerted effort to make such a return a possibility. He is helping the Obama administration in any way he can. He has muted his criticism of his own party over foreign policy issues and he has even made efforts to mend fences at home.
Still, there is a very vocal wing of the Democratic Party that is not willing to forgive Lieberman and want to defeat him should he run again. Dodd’s effort to aid Lieberman could be too much too soon and set off a new fire Dodd doesn’t need within his party.
Â
Â
Dean Pagani is a former gubernatorial advisor. He is V.P. of Public Affairs for Cashman and Katz Integrated Communications in Glastonbury.
