Dodd Retiring To Avoid Electoral Defeat in 2010?


Dean Pagani has an interesting look at the future of Connecticut’s congressional delegation in The Hartford Business Journal, and finds it is quite possible that future does not include our current senators.

Connecticut’s congressional delegation has been populated by the same seven to eight people for much of the last 25 years. Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Lieberman have been at the top, dominating state politics. But in the aftermath of the 2008 election, there are signs that the old guard is being ushered out and the new guard — that we may live with for the next 20 years — is emerging….

Both senators have been welcomed back [from Presidential runs] with less than open arms. Approval numbers below 50 percent are not insurmountable for two candidates as experienced and well funded as Dodd and Lieberman, but they are a sign of vulnerability. Ambitious birds of prey in both political parties are circling and watching for an opportunity. Many are betting Lieberman will not run in 2012 and others think Dodd may be persuaded to retire, to preserve his legacy as a senior statesman. It can be reliably reported, the conversations are taking place.

Talk of Dodd retiring, while appealing for so many reasons, is hard to believe. This guy, a member of the Senate Banking Committee for decades, blames President Bush for the mortgage crisis knowing full well it was the policies he advocated for twenty-five years that got us where we are. He tells the public, with a straight face, that he didn’t know being a “Friend of Angelo” meant the loans he got from the companies he was supposed to be overseeing weren’t available to the public. He refuses to release the records that would clear this all up in a heartbeat, despite promises to do so. And despite all this, he thought he would be a good President!

That kind of ego doesn’t let go of power easily, and he likely is taking for granted the support he has received from Connecticut voters for decades now. He just ran for President a year ago, so it isn’t like he has been winding down. There is even rumor that he could replace Harry Reid as Majority Leader. He’s not retiring.

The drive to enlist Peter Schiff to run against Dodd in 2010 seems to be in full swing. This Artful Doddger post about Schiff, an economic advisor to Presidential candidate Ron Paul, ended up on the front page of RedState. And he is getting attention from places as remote as Sunnyside, Washington. The more attention we can bring to this race, both locally and nationally, the more beatable Dodd becomes.

So spread the word, and do it with conviction. There is a senate seat in Connecticut that is not out of reach for Republicans in 2010.

Cross-posted at The Artful Doddger.


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10 Comments Leave a comment

I feel like Conservatives

docdaneeka (Diary) Sunday, January 18th at 10:24PM EST (link)

don’t understand how important it is to get the facts to the public. Yes, Dodd, Frank, Clinton and other liberals paved the way to the subprime meltdown. In fact, subprime lending was something liberals fought for for decades. Yet, when it blows up they manage to slip away quietly.

Are there ANY conservatives left among the Republicans in our government?

That is what it comes down to.

CTVoter2010 (Diary) Sunday, January 18th at 10:27PM EST (link)

Schiff, for one, strikes me as the type to get that message out loud and clear, and as an economist who predicted much of what has come to pass, he’s got more credibility than most to call Dodd out.

Whoever runs against Dodd, that has to be one of the top priorities.

“…among his intimate friends he was better known by the sobriquet of ‘The Artful Dodger,’ [and] Oliver concluded that, being of a dissipated and careless turn, the moral precepts of his benefactor had hitherto been thrown away upon him.” – Oliver Twist

www.theartfuldoddger.blogspot.com

Schiff would be a disaster

red_oakster (Diary) Monday, January 19th at 11:08AM EST (link)

CT is not Paultard country. Do you think anti-Israel is going to play inside the GOP in CT? And the antiwar wackos already are firmly with Dodd. Dodd is vulnerable because he is corrupt.

To succeed, a GOP candidate has to have wide appeal and be seen as a government reform type. Republicans who have won in the past are people like Shays and Rell. It would be great to find someone is solid on tax cutting and at least moderately hawkish on defense. That’s the best we can do. Schiff is a gadfly who will come off as a nutcase.

I think you may be right

CTVoter2010 (Diary) Monday, January 19th at 2:37PM EST (link)

that the Ron Paul connection may not be that helpful here in Connecticut. Right now, he is the only one that there is any serious talk about running against Dodd.

I’ll take any Republican over Dodd. ACtually, I’d probably take most Democrats over Dodd, too.

“…among his intimate friends he was better known by the sobriquet of ‘The Artful Dodger,’ [and] Oliver concluded that, being of a dissipated and careless turn, the moral precepts of his benefactor had hitherto been thrown away upon him.” – Oliver Twist

www.theartfuldoddger.blogspot.com

 

If Schiff is actually like Paul...

RandomGuy (Diary) Monday, January 19th at 5:12PM EST (link)

I’d vote for Dodd. I’ll take corrupt and stupid over anti-semetic and retarded.

Frm. Rep. Rob Simmons would be by far the best bet. He won 3 elections in a VERY Blue district before losing it by less then 200 votes in ’06.

Draft Mitch Daniels for President ’12

 
 
 
 

Dodd should retire now or "be retired" by lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit for gross negligence and literally selling out the USA's financial system.

Kenny Solomon (Diary) Sunday, January 18th at 10:24PM EST (link)

My prayers are answered

Maggie_in_Indiana (Diary) Monday, January 19th at 11:53AM EST (link)

Dodd retired or in jail,doesn’t really matter as long as he can’t screw up anything else. The GOP shouldn’t let this issue of their participation in the meltdown just go away this could be another opportunity to hammer on it again. After the Stimulas hits home many of Obama’s voters are going to want someone to blame. Hand them over on a silver platter.

Maggie in Indiana

I am sure Dodd will go to work for CountryWide Financial

izoneguy (Diary) Monday, January 19th at 12:06PM EST (link)

Fake Press Release – Former Senator Christopher Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut and former chairman of the Senate Banking Committee announced today that he was named the new CEO for Countrywide Financial. A Countrywide spokesperson claimed Dodd was the right person at the right time to take over for retiring CEO
Angelo Mozilo who will now take over the reins of Housing & Urban Development. Barack Obama praised the choice of Mozilo as the new head of HUD – “Mr. Mozilo brings inside information into the housing meltdown and we hope he can change the mindset of those stubborn Republicans that think you should be able to afford the home you are living in.”

The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.

 
 

The trouble with Dodd's retirement

CJB68 Monday, January 19th at 9:51PM EST (link)

   The trouble with Chris Dodd retiring is that the people running the show up in New England will always be able to find a suitable replacement for him that’s just as much a gangster Socialist as he is.  I don’t have much faith in the Republican party up that way, either.  New England states are essentially a haven for hardcore Leftists these days who won’t be feeling the sting of their own actions (unless, by some stupid mistake one of ‘em makes, the pitchforks and torches are brought out on their home turf).

Delusional and Arrogant.  The Modern Democratic Philosophy.

 

I agree Sadly

dld1717 (Diary) Monday, January 19th at 10:31PM EST (link)

Even if Governor Rell were to run for us I have hardly any faith she would win

So many of these blue states are becoming more and more blue at federal level and would never elect a Republican for federal office.

I doubt Dodd retires though