With a nod to his weak political standing and an invocation of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, Sen. Christopher Dodd officially announced he will not seek reelection to his seat come November.

Dodd made the announcement at a press conference Wednesday morning in front of his home in East Haddam, Conn., where in past years he had announced his runs for reelection.

According to a press release, Dodd explained at the conference that the morning of Christmas Eve — the same day he cast his vote for the health care reform bill — he asked himself, “Why am I running?” He had also visited Arlington Cemetery that morning, he said, “where Ted Kennedy rests, along with his brothers in eternity, as he is in history, wishing I could have seen the look in Teddy’s eyes as the Senate took that historic step only an hour before.”

After reconsidering his role in the Senate, Dodd said he came to a conclusion.

“None of us are irreplaceable,” he said this morning. “None of us are indispensible. Those who think otherwise are dangerous.”

Dodd added that he still has a year left in the Senate, where “we have important work to do,” he said.

While he said he is in “the toughest political shape of my career,” he added that it “would be absurd” to predict the outcome of the 2010 election.