Sen. Chris Dodd in the spotlight

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) has chaired almost a dozen health care hearings in recent weeks. By now, he knows they tend to run long, often around ten hours.He often begins health care hearings by taking off his suit coat. He’ll then grab his coffee – as he likes it, with milk and Splenda – and get down to business.

"It’s very difficult," Dodd said. "There’s a reason why 7 presidents and as many Congress’ as the late 1940’s have been unable to get this done. It’s a very hard job to pull this all together."

Dodd has garnered some praise from Republicans for working with them on the massive bill. The committee, which Dodd took over because of Sen. Ted Kennedy’s (D-MA) illness, has reviewed more 200 amendments. It accepted 87 GOP proposals and only rejected 22 amendments from the minority party, which many lawmakers said indicates he works well with the other side of the aisle.

The Hill newspaper asked every senator which lawmaker they consider the most and the least partisan. Dodd was ranked 3rd most partisan. And – oddly enough – his colleagues also named him the 3rd most non-partisan senator. Dodd said that’s because he won’t compromise on certain principles, but realizes he often needs Republican support.

"You can’t function in a Senate of 100 members, co-equal members, on that basis and get anything done for the people of this country," Dodd said.

Republicans are hesitant to criticize Dodd, but for the past month many say his focus on healthcare has hurt financial reform. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) said he wished Dodd would focus more on the Banking Committee.

"Chris Dodd is one of the most knowledgeable people around here on the issue of banking regulation and financial issues, and it would be good to have him full-time working on that issue," Gregg said. "He obviously can’t be right now because he’s got the healthcare portfolio because of Senator Kennedy’s sickness, and so that I do think affects the quality of regulatory reform."

Polls show Dodd with low approval ratings in Connecticut. Watchdog groups contend that’s because he is too cozy with financial firms. Countrywide Financial gave Dodd special deals on his mortgages. He also gets the third most donations from the financial sector of any senator.

The Sunlight Foundation’s Bill Allison said that affects regulatory reform. "The financial services industry has really gotten a pass," he said.

Allison said Dodd needs to remake his image as Banking Chairman. Dodd ushered through the Wall Street bailout, which has failed to get credit flowing. Allison said that remains on voter’s minds, especially because lawmakers on the Banking Committee get such large donations from financial firms.

"The question is: Did Congress really do a good job with this or was it very ham-handed and was it essentially bailing out a lot of their big contributors?" Allison asked. "And it looks like they took care of the people who take care of them and taxpayers are on the hook for it."

Dodd sees it differently. He said the Banking Committee has been busy helping homeowners and protecting consumers from credit card companies.

"Those are major accomplishments out of that committee, just in the last six months," Dodd said. "And we’re doing all the work to setting up the debate in the fall on the modernization issues. So we are getting the work done on both. And have gotten a lot done already."

But analysts say health care resonates more with voters than banking issues, even the financial hub of Connecticut. University of Connecticut political scientist Jeff Ladewig said Dodd can overcome his earlier stumbles if he can get health care passed.

"It’s basically the Democrats holy grail," Ladewig said. "It’s something they’ve been searching for for years and years and years. And if it is passed in a form most Democrats like, and he helps shepherd that bill through than it is a giant gift."

Dodd has a lot to prove to voters. In the coming months he will be in the national spotlight often, as his two committees take up high profile bills. Connecticut voters will be watching, and his political future depends on whether they like what they see.

Created by Bureau Chief and Executive Producer Melinda Wittstock, Capitol News Connection from PRI provides insightful, localized coverage of participating stations’ congressional delegations.

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