In proposing a sweeping overhaul of financial regulation, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd may have created a ready punch line for opponents seeking his seat next year ”“ if the bill passes, he will have created a sufficient number of new federal agencies that he could land a good-paying job at one of them.
If he loses his current job, that is.
In a poll published Nov. 12 by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons of Stonington led potential Republican opponents for Dodd”™s seat, but lost significant ground to Linda McMahon after the former World Wrestling Federation Inc. CEO ran television ads criticizing Dodd and promoting her candidacy.
McMahon”™s campaign trumpeted the Quinnipiac results as evidence she had captured momentum in the race, while Simmons”™ camp noted it still held the lead despite having yet to spend any significant amounts from its war chest.
Even potential Republican contenders with almost no name recognition and almost no Republican primary voter support give Dodd a run for his money, Quinnipiac pollsters said in a written statement.
“Linda McMahon made a big splash into the race two months ago and finishes second in the primary to Rob Simmons. She tops Dodd by a couple of points, but it appears that more than 40 percent of voters would vote for anybody but Dodd at this point,” said Douglas Schwartz, poll director at Quinnipiac. “(Health care) is an issue that should work for Sen. Dodd. Voters who tell us it”™s the most important issue side with him. But voters who care most about the economy say the Republican candidate will be better able to deal with it. If the economy worsens, this will hurt Dodd.”
For now, the economy remains the most pressing issue with those polled by Quinnipiac, with 33 percent indicating so compared to 30 percent who cited health care.
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With many opponents charging Dodd with lax oversight of the financial industry following the credit crisis, a 1,100-page draft proposal for financial industry reform proposed by Dodd earlier this month was met with a mix of plaudits and skepticism from various sub-sectors.
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Through the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee he chairs, Dodd proposed creating several new agencies to monitor banks, insurance carriers, hedge funds and others that sell securities or loan money. The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2009 would generally tighten regulation on derivatives, securities, credit rating agencies, and hedge funds, while specifically creating the:
- Agency for Financial Stability, to identify and address risks to the system;
- Financial Institutions Regulatory Administration, to oversee complex institutions that are failing;
- Consumer Financial Protection Agency, to regulate consumer financial products; and
- Office of National Insurance, to monitor insurance carriers at the federal level.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Greenwich Democrat, issued a statement supporting the bill.
“It emboldens and empowers my office ”“ and all state attorneys general ”“ to continue the fight against financial fraud and abuse, including deceptive debt rescue schemes and skewed credit rating practices,” Blumenthal said. “It preserves ”“ not preempts ”“ states”™ rights to enact more powerful and protective laws when necessary. Massive hedge funds and dangerous derivatives will no longer operate in a regulatory black hole. Blind, bought-and-paid-for credit ratings by profit-driven credit rating agencies would no longer be tolerated. Oversized, house-of-card companies will face limits to protect against catastrophic collapse.”
Simmons promptly used the occasion of the proposal to renew the attack against Dodd, however.
“Senator Dodd”™s eleventh-hour conversion to consumer activist cannot paper over his central role in creating our current economic crisis and his long and cozy relationship with Wall Street,” Simmons said, in a statement. “His belated response to the financial crisis he helped create is nothing more than another transparent attempt to boost his flagging poll numbers.”
Besides, reform, Dodd has incumbency on his side. Incumbent U.S. senators have prevailed 85 percent of the time since 2000.
