The Washington Times took a deep look at AIG’s donations to Sen. Chris Dodd, including a 2006 e-mail from Joseph Cassano, AIG Financial Products chief executive, asking employees and their spouses to donate the legal maximum, $2,300, and to let Cassano know when they donated. The effort raised $162,000 in six weeks for Dodd.

Dodd’s lack of any detailed comment to the Times in response to the revelations is disappointing, but predictable. A bit more surprising is that the senator’s office has no statement to Connecticut media, either, at least as of noon.

There’s no bigger story for Dodd this morning, and the senator’s political future could be salvaged if local media gave him a better shake than the national media did. The fact that Dodd hasn’t offered a more detailed explanation yet suggests there may not be one coming. The strategy seems to be, “hunker down and wait it out.”