To the rescue: Dodd defends Blumenthal’s honor

How desperate has Richard Blumenthal become after the exposure of his repeated lies about his military service during the Vietnam era?  The good news is that his campaign has found a fellow Connecticut Democrat to defend his honesty and sense of honor.  The bad news is that it’s Chris Dodd:

“Dick Blumenthal and I have known each other for almost 40 years, and I’ve always known him to be the most honorable of people,” Dodd said, just outside his office. “And nothing I read says anything differently about Dick Blumenthal. He’s going to be a great United States Senator in my view. He’s been a terrific Attorney General. So this is a bump but frankly I think that he’s handled it well and as I said, I’ve known him to be nothing but the most honorable of human beings in public life.”

But what if Republicans have the goods on Blumenthal? What if he can’t adequately contextualize the story, which has onlookers left and right predicting his demise? Even then, Dodd says, Blumenthal should persevere.

“Doesn’t change that at all in my view,” Dodd went on. “Dick Blumenthal, as I said, has been straightforward. He’s been terrific. The people of Connecticut admire him, respect him, as I do, and I’m looking forward to that day in January when he’ll be sworn in as the next Senator from Connecticut.”

Let’s recall exactly why Dodd is issuing endorsements instead of running for re-election to his Senate seat.  Polling before his withdrawal from the Senate race had a solid majority considering Dodd dishonest (54%), with 58% of voters in his state giving him an unfavorable rating.  The event that probably contributed the most to ending Dodd’s electoral career was being exposed as a liar on CNN in March 2009.  That, of course, was after Dodd’s exposure as a “Friends of Angelo” Mozilo recipient of sweetheart loans, from a lender Dodd was supposed to oversee as part of his role on the Senate Banking Committee.

If Dodd had any honor or honesty himself, Blumenthal wouldn’t have been running to replace him in the Senate.  Relying on someone like Chris Dodd to defend one’s integrity is akin to asking Eric Massa to endorse one’s staff-management skills.  If someone wrote this as satire, no one would believe it.

Keep an eye on Blumenthal’s campaign to see whether they move the Dodd statement themselves to the media.  If they do, they’re in the final straits of desperation.

Update: Jim Geraghty hears that other shoes may be about to drop on Blumenthal.

Blowback