"Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, a Democrat who has been very active on education issues throughout his decades-long career and came super close to being chairman of the Senate education committee when Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., passed away, plans to announce today that he won't seek re-election.
Dodd has struggled with Connecticut voters who haven't liked his leadership on financial issues. (He's the chairman of the Senate banking committee and helped craft the multibillion-dollar Wall Street bailout/rescue package in fall 2008.)
Interestingly, Dodd's departure might mean more of a role for education in the Senate race, not less. The leading Democratic contender to replace Dodd on the ballot, at least according to published reports, is Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general who initiated the Nutmeg State's lawsuit against the No Child Left Behind Act. He contended that the federal law was an unfunded mandate, because the money appropriated for the law didn't come close to the big increases Congress authorized when they passed it."
Dodd has struggled with Connecticut voters who haven't liked his leadership on financial issues. (He's the chairman of the Senate banking committee and helped craft the multibillion-dollar Wall Street bailout/rescue package in fall 2008.)
Interestingly, Dodd's departure might mean more of a role for education in the Senate race, not less. The leading Democratic contender to replace Dodd on the ballot, at least according to published reports, is Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general who initiated the Nutmeg State's lawsuit against the No Child Left Behind Act. He contended that the federal law was an unfunded mandate, because the money appropriated for the law didn't come close to the big increases Congress authorized when they passed it."