Chris Dodd was one of first marquee speakers at the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce's regular breakfast meetings many years ago.
So it was only fitting that the lame-duck senator make an appearance before the group this morning, as his long political career comes to a close.
A wistful Dodd told the crowd in a ballroom at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Cromwell that he stayed up watching the Giants game last night and that his oldest daughter has won a part in the "Nutcracker." And while he didn't reveal his post-Senate plans, he did express enormous gratitude toward the people of Connecticut for giving him the opportunity to serve.
The Democrat who has served in the U.S. Senate since 1980 also weighed in on the election, which marked the first time in almost 40 years that he's watched from the bleachers. He decried hyper-partisanship in Washington and reflected on the influence of money in campaigns.
"I don't fault anyone who has the personal wealth to engage in the political life of our country,'' Dodd said, in what was perhaps a veiled allusion to his one-time opponent, Republican Linda McMahon, who sunk $50 million of her own fortune into her losing bid for a Senate seat.
"When I watched this last campaign cycle and the millions being spent, most of it on negative advertising, I worried about what it [meant] for our nation,'' he said. He decried the fact that "more dollars are spent to...demonize people rather than to talk about the facts.''