Changing of the guard

The decision by our U.S. senator, Christopher Dodd, to refrain from seeking a sixth term of office is a good measure that it is truly the end of an era. When his good friend, Sen. Edward Kennedy, known as the Lion of the Senate, died while still in office last year, he had served the state of Massachusetts for 46 years. With Dodd’s decision to put an end to his political career, as well as that of Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and the likely imminent departure of other long-time senators who have benefited from the lack of term limits over their careers, this is a time that is a significant changing of the guard.

The world is certainly a very different place than it was when Dodd began his career in the U.S. Senate 30 years ago. The Senate is very different as well. With the constant need for elected officials to bring in great amounts of money in order to remain viable as candidates for re-election, there has also been greater influence of special-interest money and a trend toward more extreme partisanship. The competition for cash has become a defining reality for all politicians, and none of them can be seen as above it all.

Members of the new guard will have their work cut out for them, what with worldwide conflicts to oversee and monumental debt piling up that the next generation will have to pay off, as well as determining critical legislation concerning such matters as health care and governmental regulation of our financial system. Let’s hope that whoever is the next senator from Connecticut, Democrat or Republican, he or she is up to the task at hand.

And, thanks to Chris Dodd for many years of dedicated service to Connecticut. The unfortunate denouement of his Senate career, which called into question the likelihood of his winning in 2010, should not overshadow the good he has done for his state and an overall distinguished public service career.