Kristin Jensen and Jonathan D. Salant report that Sen. Christopher Dodd is facing a cash crunch as he gears up for his reelection bid:

The Democrat has less than half the campaign cash he had at a comparable point in his last re-election bid, when he faced far fewer hurdles. Last year, he emptied an account built up largely through financial-company employees’ donations to pay for a presidential run; now, he has to replenish his coffers even as the firms his panel regulates struggle with losses and back away from their one-time champion turned critic….

Dodd began the year with $670,654 on hand; by contrast, he had about $1.6 million at the same point in his last Senate race. He ended up spending $5.7 million for his 2004 election after raising a total of $7.1 million, according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics.

In 2007, Dodd transferred to his presidential campaign $4.7 million that had been raised for his 2010 Senate campaign. Now, many of his donors are already close to the maximum contribution limits per six-year election cycle, while Dodd is tied with Republican challenger and former Representative Rob Simmons, 66, according to a poll released on March 10 by Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut.

Be interesting to see what his haul is from his most recent fundraisers, the latter of which was held at the home of a lobbyist for financial firms HSBC North America, Cigna Corporation and Oz Management LP. Still, with financial firms hammered or on the public dole and their executives worried about having their salaries capped and their bonuses taken away, will they be able to contribute (to all politicians, not just Dodd) as much as they have in the past?

Instapundit has more.