Get this man a sinecure in Academia!  Chris Dodd looks like he will need a golden parachute in 2010, if he chooses to run for re-election to the Senate at all.  The man who thought he could win his party’s nomination for President now looks like he couldn’t get elected dogcatcher in his own state, according to the latest poll from Quinnipiac (via Taegan Goddard):

Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a possible Republican challenger, 50 – 34 percent in the 2010 Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today, as voters disapprove 58 – 33 percent of the job the Democratic incumbent is doing, his lowest approval rating ever.

Matched against two other possible Republican challengers, Sen. Dodd trails both State Sen. Sam Caligiuri 41 – 37 percent and former ambassador Tom Foley 43 – 35 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

In the Dodd-Simmons matchup, Democrats back Dodd by only 58 – 27 percent while Simmons leads 87 – 6 percent among Republicans and 56 – 25 percent among independent voters.

It’s early yet, of course.  Dodd’s numbers could rebound, but it seems as though Connecticut voters have reached a point of no return with Dodd.  The Friends of Angelo loans from Countrywide and the Irish mansion on a public-servant salary raised eyebrows, but lying through his teeth on national TV apparently was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  When CNN spends hours calling a Democrat a liar, people tend to take notice.

How bad has it gotten for Dodd?  His favorability rating in Connecticut has descended to a -28, with 58% of respondents having an unfavorable opinion of Dodd against only 30% favorable.  Fifty-four percent say that Dodd is “not honest and trustworthy,” while 52% say he doesn’t care about their problems.  When politicians sell out constituents to buy big houses here and abroad, they tend to get that kind of reputation.

If those numbers don’t improve dramatically, Dodd can’t run for re-election.  In fact, it’s hard to imagine that the Democrats would let him.  Maybe Barack Obama will provide a nice escape hatch for Dodd, perhaps replacing Dan Rooney as Ambassador to Ireland in 2010.  I hear he already has quite the house there.