The Hartford Courant‘s David Lightman is on the campaign trail with Chris Dodd: “Conventional wisdom says the 62-year-old senator is a second-tier candidate for the presidency.” Second-tier? That seems generous. And check out the only guy Lightman could find who doesn’t work for Dodd but thinks he has a chance:

Many political observers have deep doubts about Dodd’s candidacy… But others warn he should not be counted out.

“This race is pretty wide open,” said Joseph F. Keefe, a former New Hampshire Democratic chairman. Keefe supports Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, but his sister, Maura, is a key Dodd strategist.

Which is the better reason to discount Keefe’s opinion: The Dodd-strategist sister, or the fact that he thinks what the Democrats need now is more John Kerry?