Trouble for Dodd: Will AIG Bite Him in 2010?

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) might be in trouble: after a poll in early March showed him neck and neck in a potential reelection race against former Rep. Rob Simmons (R), who has since said he does intend to run, a new survey from Quinnipiac University today shows Dodd way behind in the putative matchup--50 percent to 34 percent, to be exact.

Perhaps more troubling for Dodd is that, according to today's poll, he also trails two other potential GOP opponents, state Sen. Sam Caligiuri and former ambassador Tom Foley, by four and eight percentage points respectively.

As one might expect from reading those results, Dodd is still taking blame for AIG bonuses. From Quinnipiac's poll:

Asked which public official is most to blame for the AIG bonuses:

    * 28 percent blame former President George W. Bush;
    * 27 percent blame Dodd;
    * 20 percent blame Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner;
    * 7 percent blame President Barack Obama.

If AIG is the main reason for Dodd's popularity slide, you'd have to think the bonuses won't figure as prominently in Connecticuters' opinions of Dodd in November 2010, and Dodd will naturally regain that ground with time. Then again, these numbers are pretty low.