CONCORD – His resume is impressive, a former Peace Corps volunteer with five terms in the U.S. Senate, sponsorship of countless bills and a reputation -- despite his deep Democratic beliefs -- for working well with the other side of the aisle.

Yet, Democratic Presidential candidate Chris Dodd of Connecticut is among those occupants of the second tier that less experienced but better-financed and more well-known candidates Hillary Clinton and John Edwards would apparently like excluded from future debates. The two were caught on an open microphone after a forum last week expressing frustration at having second-tier candidates involved and wishing the field could be limited to, as Edwards said, the "serious" ones.

Dodd took it in stride, insisting in an interview yesterday that he is neither offended nor insulted. He said, however, that top tier candidates have far more to lose because of the expectations placed on them in early state voting as opposed to "those of us who are competing with the margin of error.

"Things change and switch," he said, adding he has a top-notch organization that has made 35,000 calls in New Hampshire and is receiving positive results.

"I'm of the view that if you don't equal or exceed expectations here in New Hampshire and in Iowa, your campaign is over with," he said. "There are, what, about 180 days left until the primary? I feel as though the door is still very much open."

Dodd reported raising nearly $3.3 million in the second-quarter of the year, with nearly $6.4 million in the bank, compared to $31 million on hand for Barack Obama.

But, he said, "Unless I've totally lost my ear, I clearly get the feeling of at least a call back. People say they want to see you again or talk to you again. It's not rejection."

Dodd, the first senator/Presidential candidate to propose binding legislation to bring U.S. troops out of Iraq, said "This is 4 1/2 years, and every single person I know of, including the President of the United States, has begged these guys to put aside their differences and demonstrate that they want to be a country."

Dodd said he cannot guarantee that a U.S. withdrawal will reduce violence and chaos in Iraq. "All I can guarantee is the status quo is not working," he said. "Someone needs a wake-up call. I don't like deadlines normally, but maybe by telling you that come March 31 next year 'my military is done here, that may get you to do something else. That may work."

Dodd, who toured Gorham and Berlin yesterday, said, "This is a place in search of an economic identity."

He said if broadband can be brought to the region, "You watch the people who will be telecommunicating and living in a place like Berlin and actually working for a place in Boston," he said. "These 25,000 to 40,000 population towns are going through that twist" away from manufacturing. "It's going on in a lot of places."