EAST HADDAM, Conn. (AP) – After a year on the presidential campaign trail, U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd returned to Connecticut disappointed with his showing in the Iowa caucus, but happy to get back to regular life with his wife and two young daughters.

“‘Make me some pancakes,’ that’s all I got this morning” from daughters Grace, 6, and Christina, 2, Dodd said Saturday at his East Haddam home.

Dodd, 63, was welcomed home by about 50 family members, friends and state politicians in the backyard of his southern Connecticut home Saturday.

Dodd, a Democrat who has served in the Senate since 1981, gave up his presidential bid after Thursday’s caucus results were announced. He said Saturday he will wait a few days before endorsing any of the other candidates. Despite moving his family to Iowa to campaign, Dodd was never able to break from the pack and won just 0.02 percent of the state’s caucus-goers.

“Today it’s a good feeling to be back home in Connecticut,” he said Saturday. “Honestly I come home disappointed. I would have liked to have won this election. I’ve been through eight elections, and let me tell you, winning is a lot more fun than losing. But in a sense I’m also glad I tried. I have no regrets whatsoever about this.”

Dodd said he is not interested in the vice presidency and does not plan to seek a cabinet position, though he did not entirely rule out accepting one if it were offered. He also said he does not want to be Senate majority leader. “Being Democratic leader is like trying to keep frogs in a wheelbarrow,” he joked.

Looking back

Dodd was first elected to the House from Connecticut’s 2nd congressional district in the post-Watergate election of 1974. He served three terms before winning the Senate seat vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Abraham Ribicoff in 1980.

He said Saturday he was proud to have focused attention during the presidential campaign on issues such as protecting the Constitution, national service and global warming.

“The American people clearly spoke about change the other night,” he said. “And I’m sorry they didn’t understand experience as much. Because you can’t really get change without experience, in my view.”

He was self-deprecating Saturday, thanking people who stood by him even though his campaign never got much traction.

“We didn’t start out high in the polls and then shrink,” he said. “We never really grew at all in the polls.”

Dodd was overtaken in the Iowa caucuses by Senate newcomer Barack Obama of Illinois, who won; and the strong organizations of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. U.S. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, another presidential hopeful, also dropped out of the race Thursday after the results were announced.

Though he declined to name a favorite Saturday, Dodd said he has high regard for both Obama and Clinton.

Longtime supporter Matthew Nemerson of New Haven agreed, saying the two share many of Dodd’s qualities.

“In a sense, Chris’ legacy is in both of the candidates and one of them is going to be the next president, so that works for me,” he said.

“Chris clearly is a globally respected figure and I think he will play a role one way or the other.”

Dodd also thanked Connecticut residents for allowing him to campaign.

“They’ve been terrific,” he said. “It’s been 34 years since I was first elected to Congress, and the fact they gave me a little time over this last year to go out and try something is something I’ll always be grateful to them for.”

Because Dodd dropped out too late to have his name removed from the ballot, Connecticut residents can still vote for him in the state’s Feb. 5 Democratic primary.