National: Joe Lieberman

Both of Connecticut's U.S. senators were greeted with ominous new poll numbers on Tuesday. The new Quinnipiac University survey showed Chris Dodd, a senator's son who first won election to the upper chamber in 1980, scoring his lowest ever marks and Joe Lieberman trailing by a whopping 28 points in a re-election trial heat.

But while Dodd must face the voters two years before Lieberman (whose seat isn't up until 2012), it's the Democrat-turned-independent who probably has more to worry about, and to mull over.

Dodd's situation probably looks a lot worse than it actually is. The Quinnipiac poll gives him a negative job approval rating (41 percent approve/48 disapprove), marking yet another decline in his once-sterling numbers.  read more »

[img_assist|nid=2302|title=U.S. Sen. John McCain|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=200|height=268]U.S. Sen. John McCain's balancing act of being a maverick while at the same time appealing to conservative Republicans is not a new dynamic. His independent nature in the Senate and in the presidential race might be the only way a Republican this election year can appeal to swing voters, but in 2004 it was the base that helped President Bush win re-election.