Imus More Upset About Sen. Chris Dodd Retiring Than, Well, Sen. Dodd

Senator Chris Dodd, a Democrat representing the state of Connecticut, recently underwent surgery to treat his prostate cancer. He hopes Imus's course of treatment — eating habanera peppers and barking at the moon — works just as well.

"It either will," Imus said, "Or I'll be dead."

Unlike Dodd's financial regulatory reform legislation, which received new life yesterday when Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, a Republican, agreed to work with Dodd to move this important bill forward.

"I've never passed a major piece of legislation in 30 years without having a Republican partner," said Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

Interestingly, it was not Dodd's Republican counterpart in the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Richard Shelby from Alabama, who stepped up to move things along. But Dodd was not rankled.

"Shelby and I have a good relationship," Dodd said, but pointed out that the bill was going nowhere fast. "It's getting late in the year, and in another couple of weeks you'll be so deep in campaign season, you can't get major bills done."

Dodd's committee has held 52 hearings in the last year on the matter of financial regulatory reform, which he called "terribly complicated." This bill would be the largest of its kind passed since the 1930s, Dodd said, and would avoid banks becoming "too big to fail." Dodd also hopes to reform the Federal Reserve, consolidate financial regulators, and strengthen consumer protection.

"All of those issues could be a separate bill unto themselves, and trying to put all of that together takes a lot of work," he said. "But I think we're getting there."

Time is of the essence for Dodd, who announced recently that he would not seek a sixth term in Senate. He denied that the prospect of a tougher-than-usual reelection battle played any role in his decision, telling Imus he would not run even if winning were a guarantee.

On Christmas Eve last year, following early morning votes, Dodd visited for the first time the grave of his friend Senator Ted Kennedy, who passed away in August. As he stood under a cloudless sky overlooking Washington, DC, he asked himself what he said was the basic question: why are you running, and do you want to serve for seven more years?

"The answer's no," said Dodd, invoking the wisdom of the great Irish tenor John McCormack, who, when asked why he quit at the height of his career, said, "I'd rather you ask me why am I quitting, than why haven't I quit."

Imus sighed, and said he, Charles, and America would miss having Dodd around.

"We love you to death," he told the Senator. "We always have."

Jeez, man, get a hold of yourself.

-Julie Kanfer