HOOKSETT, N.H. - Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut made it through two questions at a Saturday morning coffee in New Hampshire before he was asked the inevitable.

Sitting in a living room, state Rep. Eileen Ehlers asked if Dodd has the qualities — meaning, profile — to win his party's nomination in a Democratic field crowded with bigger names.

"At one point, if I'd stood here with 25 years experience in the U.S. Senate, that would have been the end of it," said Dodd, making his first trip to the first primary state since announcing his candidacy last week. "This is not a warm up for me. I'm 62. For me, I'm not asking for your support so I can run again in four or eight years."

But with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton announcing her creation of an exploratory committee earlier in the day, Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record)'s rock star-style visit to New Hampshire in December and Dodd's limp poll numbers, the white-haired veteran acknowledged his challenges.

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