Rob Simmons 9 Points Ahead of Countrywide "Sweetheart Deal" Borrower Chris Dodd

The story below was published July 23, before news popped Monday July 27th that Dodd had in fact known that he was getting VIP Friend of Angelo terms for two loans he took out with Countrywide. I believe that Feinberg's secret testimony before the Senate Ethics Committee is bound to damage Dodd even further among Connecticut's swing vote independents. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

Dodd still lags in new QU poll

By ConnPolitics.tv Editor, on Jul 23, 2009

Hamden (AP/WTNH) – A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Connecticut U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd continues to lag behind a potential Republican challenger.

The poll, released Thursday, shows the Democrat incumbent trails former Republican Congressman Rob Simmons 48 percent to 39 percent. The figures are similar to the lead Simmons had in a May 27 poll.

The poll shows that although Dodd is down in a matchup with Simmons he is improving on his approval among voters, but it’s still a negative. Forty-two percent approve of the job he’s doing, up from 38 percent in May.

“Sen. Dodd’s numbers among Democrats are back to where they used to be with over 70 percent of Democrats approving of his job performance and backing his reelection bid,” Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said.

The poll numbers show that Dodd has gained among Democrats, but lost independent support since May 27.

“Perhaps Dodd’s visibility in helping with President Barack Obama’s agenda has brought some wavering Democrats home. But he still is struggling with Independents, who will be harder to win back than his own partisans,” Schwartz said.

Dodd leads businessman Merrick Alpert 52-18 percent in a Democratic primary, the poll showed.

Simmons dominates a Republican primary matchup, but 45 percent are undecided.

The survey of 1,499 voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Poll details are available at http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1296.xml?ReleaseID=1353