Opinion: Dodd heads in wrong direction

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We recently tweaked Chris Dodd as the 1% candidate, a reference to what had been his showing in most national polls gauging support for the Democratic presidential contenders. Well, buried in the fine print of the new Washington Post-ABC News poll--the latest to show Hillary Clinton lengthening her lead--was bad news for Dodd.

The senator from Connecticut was relegated to an asterisk, meaning his backing didn’t break the 0.5% mark.

The aggravation that may cause Dodd was underscored by a poll of a different sort: the National Journal’s survey of political pros. In it, 79 Democrats--selected on the basis of ‘their campaign experience, insider knowledge, and ties to key voting blocs’--responded to a question of which of their party’s White House aspirants would make the best president.

Clinton finished first, picked by 49%. But Dodd, who stresses his varied and deep-seated experience in Washington, tied for second. He and Barack Obama (who, by contrast, battles the perception that he is too green for the presidency), each garnered 13%.

Dodd earlier this week also got a nod, of sorts, from the dean of Iowa political commentators, David Yepsen of the Des Moines Register. Yepsen reflected on the possibility that Dodd and ‘two other back-of-the-pack’ Democrats, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden, could catch a surprise wave in the state’s crucial caucuses.

‘It could happen,’ Yepsen wrote. ‘It’s happened before.... [T]he front-runners could fizzle if liberal Democratic activists think they’re wimping out on Iraq--or would be wimps in November (of ‘08).’

Music to the Dodd camp’s ears, no doubt. But likely nothing more than the siren’s call.

-- Don Frederick