Democratic U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd continues to lag behind Republican rival Rob Simmons, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this morning.

Dodd, who has served in the Senate for close to 30 years, trails Simmons, 45 percent to 39 percent, the poll found.

However, those numbers are an improvement over the 50 to 34 percent advantage Simmons held in the last Quinnipiac poll, which was released in early April, on the heels of the AIG bonus controversy.

Dodd appears to have “stopped the bleeding,” Quinnipiac poll director Doug Schwartz said in a press release accompanying the poll results. Connecticut voters disapprove, 53 to 38, percent of the job the Democratic incumbent is doing, a gain over the 58 to 33 percent margin in the April 2, his lowest approval rating ever.

Dodd may have stopped the bleeding until the ads start to run and Connecticut voters are reminded of all of the sleazy deals with which Dodd is associated.

Flap wonders what kind of payback Joe Lieberman will exact during the campaign?