CHRIS DODD UPDATE:

Sen. Chris Dodd’s failed presidential campaign appears to have hurt him in Connecticut according to a new survey that showed the Democrat with his lowest poll numbers in 14 years.

The poll by Quinnipiac University shows the Senate Banking Committee chairman with a 47 percent approval rating. That’s down from 60 percent in May 2007 shortly after he declared his candidacy for president. Dodd faces re-election in 2010.

To know him is not to love him, so publicity isn’t his friend, as his Iowa performance demonstrated. But there’s also this:

Dodd also has undergone scrutiny in the local media about mortgage loans he received from Countrywide Financial, which included Dodd in a special program. As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, questions have arisen about conflicts of interest in the arrangement, although Dodd has denied knowing he was given any special treatment.

Yeah, as I’ve mentioned the local media have covered this story better than national media, for some reason.