The latest polls

MANIFESTO

All of a sudden, only Republicans are popular in the Constitution State.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell got a 75-percent job-approval rating after releasing her budget, a new poll shows.

A Quinnipiac University poll released today showed Rell getting high marks for addressing the economy, but [Senator Chris] Dodd's explanation of getting what Countrywide Financial deemed to be a VIP mortgage dissatisfied voters by a wide margin.

Dodd got his worst approval rating ever in the Quinnipiac poll: 41 percent approve and 48 percent disapprove of his performance and 51 percent say they are likely to vote against him next year ...

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, who does not face re-election until 2012, continues to struggle in the poll. His negatives still outweigh his positives, and he trails Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in a hypothetical matchup, 58 percent to 30 percent.

I don't think Blumenthal will ever run, and I don't think he'd be much different from Holy Joe in a number of respects, anyway. Nevertheless, it's clear that Senator Sanctimony is quite vulnerable.

Chris Dodd may also have outworn his welcome. I've said before that it's time for the five-term senator to retire, and Connecticut's voters may make that decision for him. Nevertheless, the state's Republicans have absolutely no one of any merit to run against him, and Blumenthal is sure to continue playing his waiting game until at least 2012.