Dodd’s Declining Popularity
Poll shows Simmons, Foley, McMahon ahead of Dodd
By LEANNE GENDREAU
Updated 1:24 PM EDT, Thu, Nov 12, 2009
Sen. Chris Dodd is moving closer to his most difficult political challenge yet and he is less popular now among voters than he was in September.
Not only has his approval rating slid, but if the election were held now, three of the Republicans could beat the five-term Senator, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.
"After inching up in the polls for months, Sen. Christopher Dodd is sliding back down again on job approval,” Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz PhD.
Even support from the president might not be enough to help him in 2010.
“President Barack Obama is still popular with independents, but voters say that his support of Dodd won't affect their Senate vote," Schwartz said.
Dodd has been a leader on the national healthcare reform debate and that could help him. The economy, on the other hand, could help Republican challengers.
"Healthcare is an issue that should work for Sen. Dodd. Voters who tell us it's the most important issue side with him. But voters who care most about the economy say the Republican candidate will be better able to deal with it. If the economy worsens, this will hurt Dodd," Schwartz said.
Dodd’s taken on some high-profile issues in the last year. In addition to healthcare, he has taken on credit card charges and he’s proposing a huge financial reform plan.
His sweeping financial proposal has gotten mixed reviews. Some say it’s ambitious and hard-hitting. Others criticize him for proposing the plan just to get re-elected.
“Sen. Christopher J. Dodd this week joined the generations of dreamers who have advocated for eliminating the nation's muddle of bank regulators, arguing that a single agency would be more efficient and would end the ability of banks to choose the most lenient supervisor,” the Washington Post writes.
But, his critics -- bankers, regulators and some legislators – overlooks strengths “of the current patchwork and ignores potential downsides of consolidation,” the Post reports.
Analysts can say what they will, but ultimately the voters will decide who will represent then in Congress, and the poll results show that 54 percent of registered voters surveyed last week disapprove of the job Dodd is doing, up from 49 percent in September.
His approval rating had inched up in the polls for several months before the latest survey. In July, voters disapproved of Dodd, 52 to 42 percent. His approval rating dropped before as he faced controversy over low-rate mortgages he received from Countrywide Financial Corp.
The Republicans voters like best are former GOP Congressman Rob Simmons, who the poll said would beat Dodd 49 to 38 percent in next year's election, Tom Foley, who would win, 47 percent to 40 percent, and Republican Linda McMahon, a former pro wrestling executive, who voters picked, 43 to 41 percent, against Dodd.
Voters said they did not know a lot about McMahon but her deep pockets could give her a boost in voter confidence.
By spending millions of her own dollars to be elected U.S. Senator, 61 percent of voters think she is free of pressure from lobbyists and other special interests, while 29 percent say this gives her an unfair advantage and looks like she is buying the election.
The state’s Democrats are coming to Dodd’s defense.
“We’ll see lots of polls over the course of this campaign, some accurate, and some not. In truth, we have a hard time believing Chris Dodd has done anything but strengthen his political position based on his well-publicized and heroic work on healthcare reform, tightening our country’s financial regulations and protecting consumers; coverage that contrasts starkly with the Jerry Springer-like atmosphere of the Republican Senate Primary,” Colleen Flanagan, communications director for the state Democratic Party said in a news release. “We’re not taking this poll particularly seriously, and Chris Dodd will continue to do his job every single day on behalf of the people he was elected to represent.”
Other potential challengers include former State Senator Sam Caligiuri, who is neck-and-neck with Dodd, and financial pundit Peter Schiff, who trailed Dodd by 1 percent.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Connecticut
First Published: Nov 12, 2009 8:29 AM EDT
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