Sen. Dodd happy to be sitting this one out

Sen. Christopher Dodd says he’s thrilled not to be facing a very angry electorate this November and to instead be pondering other, less angst-ridden, opportunities this fall as he heads toward retirement.

“I look clairvoyant,” Dodd told the Washington Economics Club at a swanky dinner in downtown Washington on Wednesday night.  “The only second thoughts I’ve had [about the decision to retire] are about how brilliant the first thought was.”

The event was supposed to focus on the Wall Street overhaul Dodd helped craft and shepherd through the Senate earlier this summer. But it veered into many other subjects, including whether his two daughters were pleased or disappointed their father would no longer be a U.S. senator come January 2011.

Dodd said his five-year-old was happy, mainly because she hoped his post-congressional career might include opening an ice-cream shop. His nine-year-old, who just made the cut in the Washington Ballet, couldn’t care less. “She just wants to be in the nutcracker,” Dodd said.

As for his own plans, Dodd was mum, saying he still had not decided what he would do come January.