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HARTFORD, Conn._Joe Lieberman predicted Tuesday that voters will re-elect his beleaguered fellow Connecticut senator, Christopher Dodd, for the same reasons he attributes to his own comeback victory.

Lieberman said he thinks Dodd, the Senate banking chairman buffeted by controversies about Wall Street bonuses and home mortgages, has enough time until next year's election to rebound from low approval ratings.

He predicted voters will realize Dodd is too valuable to lose, as the economy begins improving while Dodd keeps working on legislation to fix the financial system.

Lieberman is no stranger to comebacks himself. The longtime senator and Iraq war supporter was suddenly knocked from his mantle when he lost the 2006 Democratic primary election to an antiwar candidate. He ran as a third-party candidate in the general election and won.

He has been working to repair rifts with President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party after supporting Republican Sen. John McCain for president last year. He also has mended fences with Dodd for abandoning him after the 2006 primary.

"I've been there," Lieberman said after a meeting on federal stimulus funding in Hartford, referring to Dodd's situation. "It's obviously been a tough couple of months for Chris, some of it unfair.

"But I'm convinced, based on what Chris Dodd has done for Connecticut and America, that he'll be re-elected," Lieberman said. "I think people will say, 'Hey, we've got a good senator here. Let's not lose him.'"


Dodd's office planned to respond to Lieberman's comments later Tuesday.

In his post on the Banking Committee, Dodd is playing a key role as the federal government tries to ease the financial crisis. But his popularity has taken a big hit because of the meltdown and his failed campaign for president in 2008.

Dodd's approval rating hit a career low in a Quinnipiac University poll released last week. Only one in three respondents approved of the five-term lawmaker's performance. The survey gave Lieberman a 46 percent approval rating.

The poll also found Dodd trails his two announced Republican challengers, former GOP Congressman Rob Simmons and Connecticut state Sen. Sam Caligiuri. It showed Simmons defeating Dodd 50 percent to 34 percent, and Caligiuri winning 41 percent to 37 percent.

Dodd is also facing a potential primary against fellow Democrat Roger Pearson, an attorney and former first selectman of Greenwich. Pearson said recently that he will decide within a few months whether to run.

Dodd has slipped for several reasons: his role in writing a bill that protected bonuses for executives at bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc.; his initial refusal to release documents about his two controversial mortgages with Countrywide Financial Corp.; and his financing of a vacation cottage in Ireland.

Jay Howser, Dodd's campaign manager, said Monday that the senator is focused on getting the economy back on track. He said the election is a long way off, but was confident Dodd would win re-election.