A new Quinnipiac poll in Connecticut shows that Sen. Chris Dodd (D) in a dangerous position a year before the election, with a ceiling of just 42 percent against any of his potential GOP opponents, some barely known to state voters.

General Election Matchups
Simmons 49 -- Dodd 38 -- Und 11
Foley 47 -- Dodd 40 -- Und 13
McMahon 43 -- Dodd 41 -- Und 14
Dodd 42 -- Caligiuri 42 -- Und 14
Dodd 42 -- Schiff 41 -- Und 15

The RCP Average for Dodd vs. Simmons has the former Republican Congressman up 8.3 percent. On a general re-elect question, 39 percent say Dodd deserves another term and 53 percent say no. Voters give him high marks on leadership (61 percent) but fewer say he is honest or trustworthy (39 percent).

In a GOP primary, Simmons gets 28 percent in the multi-candidate field, with former WWE CEO Linda McMahon the next closest challenger at 17 percent. Former Ambassador Tom Foley (9 percent), stockbroker Peter Schiff (5 percent) and state Sen. Sam Caligiuri (4 percent) round up the field. Simmons had taken 43 percent in a September poll taken before McMahon entered the race. In a Democratic primary, Dodd just gets 55 percent compared to 22 percent for Merrick Alpert, a former Gore staffer who has virtually no name recognition.

Favorable Ratings
Dodd 42 / 49
Simmons 40 / 10
McMahon 20 / 13
Caligiuri 10 / 3
Foley 20 / 6
Schiff 7 / 4
Alpert 1 / 3

Dodd has a 40 percent job approval rating, with 54 percent disapproving. His colleague Joe Lieberman, up for re-election in 2012, has a 49 percent approval rating, and 46 percent say he should be re-elected vs. 45 percent who say no -- a drop from the last time that question was asked. President Obama's is strong in the Nutmeg State: 58 percent approve, 35 percent disapprove.

The survey of 1,236 registered voters was conducted November 3-8 and has margin of error of +/- 2.8 percent. The GOP primary subsample of 332 voters had a +/- 5.4 percent margin of error, and the Democratic subsample of 474 voters had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.