Dodd's Political Stock Tumbles

Democratic Senator's Ties To Financial Industry Angering Connecticut Voters

(AP)  Democrats may want to start thinking about a bailout for Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, whose political stock has slipped amid the financial meltdown.

As a five-term Democrat who blew out his last two opponents by 2-1 margins in a Democratic state that President Barack Obama won handily, Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, should be cruising to re-election in 2010. Instead, he's feeling heat from a Republican challenger eager to make him a poster boy for the tumult in the housing and financial markets.

A recent poll showed former Rep. Rob Simmons running about even with Dodd, a former national Democratic Party chairman.

As head of the banking panel, Dodd, 64, has become a convenient target for voter anger over the economic crisis.

"The fact that we have been beaten up, beaten around the head for the last eight or nine months on a regular basis has contributed to it as well," Dodd said.

Some of the worst blows came amid the furor over $165 million in bonuses American International Group Inc. paid some of its employees while receiving billions of dollars in federal bailout money. After first denying it, Dodd admitted he agreed to a request by Treasury Department officials to dilute an executive bonus restriction in the big economic stimulus bill that Congress passed last month. The change to Dodd's amendment allowed AIG to hand out the bonuses and sparked a blame game between Dodd and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Dodd was guarded Thursday when asked about Geithner.

"This is obviously a matter that obviously should have been dealt with differently, but we are where we are," he said.

Republicans branded Dodd's reversal "astonishing and alarming" and fingered Dodd as the top recipient of campaign cash from AIG employees over the years.

The Republican party is slamming Dodd, claiming he is cozying up to Wall Street insiders, raking in bundles of their campaign cash, shirking his banking panel duties and running for president as the economic crisis erupted in 2007.

He's also under investigation by a Senate ethics panel for mortgages he got from Countrywide Financial Corp., the big lending company at the center of the mortgage crisis.

Dodd struck a defiant tone in his home state Friday, telling a Connecticut audience that he's more concerned about fixing the nation's ailing economy than saving his own job.

Voters are sick and tired of the torrent of negative politics, he said.

"I'm going to do my job," Dodd said. "Politics will take care of itself, one way or the other in the final analysis. And I'll either once again earn the respect and confidence of the people of this state, or I won't."

A takedown of a national party figure like Dodd would be a coup for Republicans eager to rebound from their recent congressional losses.

"This is a state we will be actively participating in," said Amber Wilkerson, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Republicans are also turning a spotlight on Dodd's longtime friendship with Edward Downe Jr., a former director of the Bear Stearns investment firm who was snared in an insider trading scandal. Dodd owned a condo with Downe in a fashionable Washington neighborhood but bought out Downe's share in 1990 after learning Downe was under investigation. Downe eventually pleaded guilty to trading inside information.

During the final days of the Clinton administration, Dodd wrote a letter supporting a pardon for Downe. "Mr. President, Ed Downe is a good person, who is truly sorry for the hurt he caused others," Dodd wrote. The pardon was granted.

Dodd complained that the Republicans are repackaging old stories.

"They're trying to weave things together that have been reported on widely over the years," Dodd said. "They are taking some items that are frankly, old news, routine transactions, and trying to make more out of it."

Dodd has acknowledged participating in a Countrywide VIP program, which he said he thought referred to upgraded customer service. He denied asking for or receiving any special treatment when he refinanced his homes in Washington and East Haddam, Connecticut, in 2003.

"There was no sweetheart deal," Dodd said.

He faced criticism in his home state for not releasing details of his mortgages until several months after the controversy surfaced last summer. He concedes his sluggish response was a mistake.

The Countrywide controversy came after a failed presidential bid by Dodd that soured many Connecticut voters because he was out of state campaigning so much.

Dodd moved his family to Iowa for several weeks before the caucuses there, adding to the home-state backlash.

Simmons is a former CIA officer who served three terms in Congress representing a Democratic-leaning district. He's a fiscal conservative who split with his Republican Party on issues such as abortion rights and raising the minimum wage. He lost by 83 votes to Democrat Joe Courtney in 2006.

In a hypothetical 2010 matchup, a recent Quinnipiac University poll showed Simmons with 43 percent of the vote and Dodd with 42 percent, a statistical dead heat.

Democrats said they're confident Dodd will rebound in the coming months. They note he has strong support among party activists in the state as well as nationally. Simmons could face a tough primary fight if other Republicans jump in, Democrats add.

"Senator Dodd will be fine when all the dust settles," said Nancy DiNardo, chairwoman of the Connecticut Democrats. "People are just really upset with everything that's happening (with the economic crisis)."

[dnsallday]

and as predicted the stupid Democrats have over extended themselves...
Is that the awakening of 60 million people making all that noise? Bout time.
Posted by poeticaintit at 6:4
*******************************************************************************************************
I don't think so, there are some out of those 60 million people who might have been expecting some miracles to happen and some that are easily distracted by any shiny bauble put in our faces by the media. Most of us, however, are well aware that we need a thinking person with a long view and as we spent the last decade watching as the United States fell from being a strong, powerful nation to number 15 among other countries, we understand well, that it could take just as long to pull ourselves out of the hole.

As far as Sen. Dodd's shady real estate mortgage from Country Wide, he got the exact same deal that I got and I am not rich or powerful, I simply have good credit and was offered a no document loan with an extremely low fixed interest rate. I never considered turning the offer down as that is what competition in a capitilistic society is all about.

[sjc_1]

Dodd's opponent has to come up with some credible ideas and a plan. You can not just win over a 6 term Senator by saying you are not him. The Democrats want a solid 60 senators come the end of 2010 and they are on track to get those.

[aziridine]

Dodd is taking the heat for Obama, who also got a lot of dirty Wall Street money. First Balogjevich, now Dodd, soon Geithner will fall on his sword all to cover Obama's treachery.

[poeticaintit]

'It's still early in the game...lots of time yet to kick up dust to keep attention away from corruption....hey....RUSH IS THE MOUTH PIECE FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY...we haven't exhausted that yet have we? What about something Palin...quick...think! There has to be something to point a finger at the GOP to get this freakin' light out of my face....c.rap! That dam.n Bush...why the he11 doesn't he give an interview or something...the media would jump all over that! He11, Cheney's running his mouth...but let's face it...even Republicans think he wasted. What to do!!!!'

and as predicted the stupid Democrats have over extended themselves...it was only a matter of time....not so much fun watching MSNBC any more...hmmmm. Chris Matthews might try the 'tingling up my leg' thing again...worked wonders the first time....

Is that the awakening of 60 million people making all that noise? Bout time.