Chris Dodd raises $1 million (but almost zilch from Connecticut)
Who says Chris Dodd can't win reelection? He's just running in the wrong state.
First quarter fund raising reports are out, and so far this year the embattled Connecticut Senator has raised over $1 million for his 2010 campaign. Of that, just over $4,000 came from Connecticut residents -- all five of them.
Dodd may want to move to Massachusetts where he's raised $90,000 so far. He's pretty popular in Texas too, raising $81,000 down there. Or do some kind of a weird Maryland/New York combo-meal thing as residents have combined in those two states to give him more than $100,000.
Obama
Despite having a 33 percent approval rating and being the poster child for the AIG executive bonus fiasco, he's got one big supporter with some clout.
President Obama isn't backing away from Dodd. Yesterday, the president sang his praises from Air Force One.
"I can't say it any clearer: I will be helping Chris Dodd because he deserves the help," Obama told the Boston Globe.
"Chris is going through a rough patch," he said. "He just has an extraordinary record of accomplishment, and I think the people in Connecticut will come to recognize that. . . . He always has his constituencies at heart, and he's somebody I'm going to be relying on and working very closely with to shepherd through the types of regulatory reforms we need."
Even less
The Boston Herald wonders if there are politicians who have even less hometown support than Dodd.
Yes, they announce. Patrick Kennedy wins that honor.
"Since last January he has collected no donations from the state of Rhode Island. Maybe that’s why the recent Brown University poll has Patrick down to a 38% favorable rating," writes Boston Herald blogger Holly Robichaud.
Blogosphere reaction
You can bet the right side of the web is jumping all over the news. Ed Morrisey at Hot Air says Dodd is done.
"It looks plain that Connecticut has rejected Dodd rather soundly, and now a bunch of people from other states want Dodd propped up in place," he writes. "At some point, Connecticut voters will have to decide whether they want two Senators from their own state, or allow other states to dictate their second position in the Senate. In fact, it looks as though Nutmeg State voters have already made that decision … with their pocketbooks."
The left side of town is talking about it as well. Jonathan Stein at Mother Jones breaks down where Dodd's donations are coming from -- big finance.
"Executives and PACs representing banks, financial services companies, and real estate brokerages gave Dodd at least $299,000. (NB: That means the folks that Dodd, chairman of the Banking committee, is supposed to oversee gave 70 times more than the folks Dodd is supposed to represent.) Insurers and health care interests gave $48,000. And lobbyists, many of whom have Wall Street clients, chipped in $62,800 more."
"It's no wonder the folks that Dodd represents aren't terribly excited about having him back. It's not clear who he represents anymore," Stein adds.
Meanwhile, Eric Zimmerman over at the Hill's Blog Briefing Room wonders, "How long will it be before the NRSC cuts a web ad on this?"
