A new poll shows that Sen. Chris Dodd is showing signs of life in his 2010 bid to win a blank term, but his Republican challenger is still ahead.
The Quinnipiac University poll, conducted on 1,575 registered voters found that Dodd trails former GOP Rep. Rob Simmons 45-39 percent. That’s somewhat of an improvement for Dodd, who in April lagged behind Simmons 50 – 34 percent. Simmons leads Dodd among critical Independent voters by 53 – 30 percent.
Dodd, who is chairman of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, had been sinking in the polls for months after it was disclosed he received a favorable interest rate from a Countrywide Mortgage, a company that helped bring about the sub-prime mortgage implosion. His popularity dropped even further when he approved of legislative language allowing the American International Group – a major recipient of government bailout funds – to hand out $165 million in bonus money to its executives.
The poll found that among those who disapprove of Dodd, 24 percent cite overall dishonesty or lack of integrity, 17 percent say he has failed to deal with banking industry problems and 11 percent say Dodd fell out of favor after the Countrywide mortgage deal.
“Sen. Christopher Dodd’s numbers are getting better but they are still lousy,” Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said. “He still has high negatives. About half of the voters don’t trust Dodd and disapprove of the job he is doing. And he is still behind Simmons in a general election matchup.”
