Does Chris Dodd still have a chance in Connecticut?

The U.S. Senate’s official vindication of Sen. Chris Dodd for the home loan he obtained, supposedly as a VIP, is not surprising. The verdict was rendered by Dodd’s colleagues ­— his brethren. Moreover, most people who had looked at it thought Dodd had gotten no better terms than anyone could get by shopping around. Finally, only the most cynical, or the most angry, ever thought Chris Dodd would jeopardize his good name for so little.

Dodd is happy. Case closed.

But wait.

Dodd is in trouble for re-election for an entirely different reason. His problem is not integrity but distance.

At a time when the American public seems increasingly angry, and frightened, and insistent that our leaders channel our anger, many people think Dodd is totally out of touch. We all know the litany: He has been there too long. He speaks the language of Washington but not the working-class towns and suburbs of his state. He seems to talk loud and long but says little that is real.

Connecticut, like the rest of the country, is restless, and Dodd is old hat.

Dodd now talks the language of economic populism, but for three decades he was a corporate Democrat — the man for the insurance lobby, or the banking industry, to see in D.C.

He now is the manager of the two biggest bills in Congress (health-insurance reform and regulation of capital markets), but for years he seemed to be no more than present in Washington. (Or was the press not paying attention? Dodd worked on child welfare and Latin American issues with great focus and discipline.)

What is the truth about Christopher J. Dodd?

Is he a statesman about to come into his golden moment, or a hack just trying to hold on?

Dodd has been blessed as a politician — incredibly blessed. He’s never had to fight very hard to win office in this state. People knew and respected his father, before Tom Dodd crashed and burned. They felt bad about what happened to him. They liked Chris Dodd. He’s smart (policy-wise and politics-wise), affable, and he’s on the right side of the issues for a plurality of Connecticut voters: He’s a traditional Democrat.

In a way (both good and bad) Dodd’s a throwback to pre-TV, retail politics.

How will he do in a year of teabaggers and birthers and the screamers on TV?

Well, politics is swathed in illusion and deception, never more so than this year.

But Dodd may rise again, or fall, by several pragmatic tests.

First, what is the alternative? A Republican nominee would have to be more than just another vote for the GOP “just say no� caucus to have a chance. Disillusioned Democrats are not going to vote for one more right-wing yahoo who wants the president to fail.

Second, will Dodd get a health-insurance bill passed? And will it be a positive reform?

That’s a big deal. The state is unlikely to reject a national leader who actually is a national leader.

Third, will Dodd get passed regulatory reform that truly restores antitrust protections and the principle of competition?

Finally, will he — can he — bring jobs to Connecticut?

That’s parochial, but it is politics.

Just the other day, the state’s congressional delegation failed to secure 600 new jobs for the state (to rebuild the Lego factory in Enfield to make batteries for electric cars). That kind of result speaks volumes, and this year voters are listening.

If Dodd had been a constant presence in the state all these years, such things might not be so damning. But Dodd has been remote, as veteran senators tend to be. Part of his problem is simply that people just don’t see him. He doesn’t seem to come around much.

That is changing now.

Fear concentrates the mind. And Dodd is focused on retaining his Senate seat, if not on the people and problems of Connecticut.

Never underestimate an Irish politician who has the fire in his belly. Dodd is charming and unflappable, and he knows the Senate (which he truly loves and reveres) as well as any senator ever has known it. There is a reason he keeps winning.

Forget the polls. If he can help pass the biggest piece of legislation in our lifetimes (and it helps as many people as some of us think it will help), and he can bring his own state some economic relief, Dodd will be hard to beat in 2010.

Keith C. Burris is editorial page editor of the Journal Inquirer in Manchester.