Since he abandoned his quest for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, Connecticut’s Christopher J. Dodd has drawn far more attention than he did as a little-noticed candidate. As chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, he has been at the center of efforts to assist the ailing auto industry as well as the housing and financial sectors — a task he remains committed to as he plots an ambitious course for the 111th Congress (2009-10).

Though the election of Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. as vice president opened up the Foreign Relations Committee chairmanship for Dodd, he decided to keep his Banking post. He also is next up for the chairmanship of Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee now headed by Massachusetts’ Edward M. Kennedy , who is battling brain cancer. But he wants to stay where he is. “Putting our country back on a sound economic footing is our defining challenge of the moment,” Dodd told reporters.

To that end, Dodd was extremely busy in 2008. In December, he worked furiously to strike a deal with Senate Republicans, Detroit’s Big Three automakers and the United Auto Workers union, only to see the Senate scuttle a plan to avert the automakers’ failure through short-term loans. “This is very disappointing, to put it mildly,” a visibly exhausted Dodd said after the deal fell apart. Though the Bush administration subsequently stepped in to prevent the automakers’ collapse, their formidable ongoing needs will require Dodd to re-engage on the vexing issue in 2009.

At the same time, Dodd’s practiced skill at cultivating friendships and cutting deals will be tested by the magnitude of the financial crisis, even with his party in the White House and in control of both chambers of Congress. On Banking, where he has served since he arrived in the Senate, he has sought to balance the interests of consumers with those of the industries he oversees. Both consumer and industry groups say he has been with them on many issues, but opposed them on some of their top priorities.

Dodd is expected to maintain vigorous oversight of the $700 billion financial rescue law he helped steer to passage in October 2008. His pressure in the weeks following its enactment seemed to help spur changes. He long has urged more assistance for borrowers facing foreclosure, leading the Treasury Department to consider using some money to rework unaffordable loans into more manageable monthly payments.

Dodd didn’t draw as much attention as his House counterpart, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, but he won praise from colleagues for his work on the financial rescue. He developed a proposal that set limits on executive compensation for companies that participate in the program, an idea incorporated into the final bill.

Several months earlier, Dodd pushed through the chamber legislation that included a modernization of the Federal Housing Administration and a $300 billion expansion of the FHA’s loan insurance programs aimed at helping borrowers avoid foreclosure. The measure also included provisions to overhaul mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

His diminished popularity in his home state will complicate his work as he seeks a sixth term in 2010. A Hartford Courant/University of Connecticut poll in October 2008 found 48 percent of residents disapproved and 42 percent approved of his performance, a dip Dodd said did not surprise him. “People are angry,” he told the newspaper. “This is the most difficult time economically in my political life.”

His stature was not helped by his frequent absences from the state during his run for the presidency, which ended in January after he finished sixth in the Iowa caucuses. Though he temporarily moved his wife and children to a rented home in West Des Moines to strengthen his presence there, his name recognition proved almost non-existent in early polls and his fundraising efforts stagnated, despite efforts to swing Wall Street to his side.

Another negative for Dodd was the controversy over whether he received a sweetheart deal on two mortgages in 2003 from Countrywide Financial Corp., a lender. The Senate ethics committee said in June 2008 that it began an initial investigation into whether Dodd and North Dakota Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad got preferential treatment. Dodd said that even though he had been told he was put in a “VIP program,” he did not assume he would get any special favors.

During the 110th Congress (2007-08), Dodd led Senate liberals in a fight to block legislation giving immunity to telecommunications companies that may have cooperated with a Bush administration initiative to survey the domestic phone calls of suspected terrorists. The fight dragged on for months, but Dodd’s amendment to pull the immunity provision from a bill rewriting electronic surveillance rules was defeated in July 2008 when 17 Democrats joined Republicans in opposition. The Senate then passed the bill.

Dodd was more successful during the 110th in pushing through a reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which provides federal protection for private property insurers writing policies against the threat of terrorism. Dodd had also played a critical role in writing the original 2002 legislation.

Dodd has said he wants to explore creation of a federal charter option for the nation’s larger insurance companies, a priority for large firms because it would spare them from having to comply with 50 different state insurance laws. At the same time, he sought to defend consumers, holding hearings in 2007 that took aim at abusive credit card and predatory lending practices. He also vowed his Banking panel will tighten standards for the security of private financial information.