For 2008 Presidential Bid

By Andrew Miga

Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — US Senator Christopher Dodd says he is considering running for president in 2008.

“It’s an itch,” Dodd told The Associated Press during an interview in his Senate office on Monday. “Could grow. Could disappear. It’s an itch. It’s not a bad word to use.”

The 2008 race for the Democratic nomination is expected to be a crowded one, with national figures such as Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., seen as likely candidates.

“If you have any thoughts of doing it, you ought to make up your mind pretty quickly because the window closes,” the senator said.

He did not offer any timetable on a decision.

Dodd, 61, also noted that he has his hands full as a senator and as the father of two daughters, ages 1 and 4.

“I’m still pretty much focused on the state, my young family,” he said.

“Someone said the other day if you’re ever going to do it, you ought to do it while they’re 1 and 4. They won’t remember,” he joked.

Dodd, meanwhile, predicted that his colleague Senator Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., will turn back his Democratic primary challenge from Ned Lamont, who is taking sharp aim at Lieberman’s support of the Iraq war.

“He prevails in all of this,” Dodd said of Lieberman. “But it will make the next 18 weeks uncomfortable ... He’s gotta pay attention to it, and he is.”