The GOP has had precious little to cheer about of late. But this Quinnipiac poll contains some excellent news about Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd's dwindling chances for re-election:

Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a possible Republican challenger, 50 - 34 percent in the 2010 Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today, as voters disapprove 58 - 33 percent of the job the Democratic incumbent is doing, his lowest approval rating ever.

Matched against two other possible Republican challengers, Sen. Dodd trails both State Sen. Sam Caligiuri 41 - 37 percent and former ambassador Tom Foley 43 - 35 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

In the Dodd-Simmons matchup, Democrats back Dodd by only 58 - 27 percent while Simmons leads 87 - 6 percent among Republicans and 56 - 25 percent among independent voters.

The incumbent's approval is down from 49 - 44 percent March 10.

Dodd gets a negative 30 - 58 percent favorability rating, compared to 39 - 12 percent favorable for Simmons with 47 percent who don't know enough to form an opinion. More than 80 percent of Connecticut voters don't know enough about Caligiuri or Foley to form an opinion.

A total of 35 percent of voters say they definitely or probably will vote for Dodd for reelection next year, while 59 percent say they probably won't or definitely won't vote for him.