HARTFORD COURANT: Cloud Follows Dodd Into Months Ahead. “Dodd has lost his touch. For three decades he’s held the affection of Connecticut voters. . . . Today, routine questions cause Dodd to stagger and stumble into breathtaking blunders, all his own creations. It began in June when Conde Nast’s Portfolio magazine broke the story of the two favorable mortgages Dodd received from Countrywide Financial. On that Friday afternoon, Dodd’s office issued an angry written denial that he’d ever used his position for personal gain. Dodd, his office said, was traveling and unavailable. . . . That day began the damaging pattern of denial, contradiction and preposterous clarification. The cost of a charmed career in politics may be not knowing how to fight. The whiff of decay fills the air around Dodd.” Ouch.

Plus, Does Dodd look old? Blame it on Hi-def TV. The guy can’t catch a break.