NEW YORK (AP) -- Sen. Chris Dodd said Tuesday he plans to have "a conversation with the mirror" over the Christmas holidays to decide whether he'll join a growing field of Democratic presidential contenders.

But Dodd, a 25-year Senate veteran, added, "If I had to make a decision in the next thirty seconds, I'd say, 'Let's go."'

In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, the 62-year-old Dodd called himself a dark horse in a crowded field dominated by New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Illinois Sen.

Barack Obama. Neither Clinton nor Obama has announced they will seek the presidency, but both lead every national poll of Democratic contenders.

Yet with the early nominating contests still 13 months away, the Connecticut senator insisted he still has a chance to break through.

"People don't want to be told this race is over, or that it's down to a couple of people and everyone else is wasting their time," he said. And while not mentioning Obama -- the field's charismatic newcomer -- by name, Dodd said, "the idea that someone could come to this race and bring little or no experience and still connect is going to be hard."