Dodd rallies supporters in LV

Armed with a familiar joke, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd returned to Las Vegas on Saturday touting the support of the firefighters union and hoping it will swing the momentum of his long-shot presidential bid.

Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, told about 75 firefighters and family gathered at a union hall in Las Vegas that he would need their help to fuel a campaign that has been overshadowed by celebrity candidates.

"I can't do this alone. I need a band of brothers and sisters to do this with me," Dodd told a group wearing yellow and black "Fire Fighters for Dodd" T-shirts.

The 63-year-old Dodd also quipped that he was the only presidential hopeful who receives magazines from AARP and diaper services, pointing to his age and his two young daughters.

The campaign stop in Las Vegas was the last on a tour launched after Dodd won the endorsement of the International Association of Firefighters last week. The senator met with firefighters in three early primary states with the hope of building momentum.

The 281,000-member union has 2,500 members in Nevada. In other key early states, it is known to be a politically active union in the AFL-CIO federation.

Union president Howard Schaitberger praised Dodd's work in the Senate, citing the senator's push for the FIRE Act, which provided more than $2.8 billion in federal funding to fire departments.

Dodd has supported collective bargaining rights for unionized firefighters and wrote the SAFER Act in 2003, which provided another $150 million to recruit and hire firefighters.

When pressed on whether his campaign can gather the steam to take on Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Dodd said he was amazed at how short political memories are, because the past Democratic presidential nominee was not ahead at the same time during the last cycle.

He added that his polls show more than 80 percent of primary and caucus voters haven't decided on a candidate.

Dodd has staff and offices up and running in Iowa and New Hampshire.

His campaign is continuing to rattle other presidential hopefuls with new endorsements, Dodd said, adding that he has guarded his money well.

"I feel very good about were we are today," he said.

Dodd held a similar event in Reno earlier Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.