Why won’t Dodd fight for Elizabeth Warren?

Dodd’s pushing for Sheila Bair for the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) even though she doesn’t want the job. Every one wants Elizabeth Warren, but Dodd seems unlikely to back her and is showing public unwillingness to fight for her.

The New Republic’s Noam Scheiber wrote that “after surveying a dozen insiders over the last few days — congressional aides, industry officials, progressive activists, and a few administration officials — I’ve concluded that the odds are good that Warren would be confirmed if nominated by the White House.” And Dodd now seems to have shifted his rhetoric, saying that even if Warren is confirmable, it’s not worth a potential fight to get her the job:

“What you don’t need to have is an eight-month battle for who the director or the head or chairperson of this new consumer financial protection bureau will be.”

Republicans overwhelming voted against the Dodd-Frank Reform bill, so why the sudden fear of the Republicans? Does it have something to do with his coming exit from the senate and most likely entrance into the FIRE lobby or is there some one inside the White House (like Geithner and/or Summers) who don’t want her in the position and want Dodd to take the fall?