Linda McMahon for Senate catch-all thread

[NintendoLogic]

That poll has Murphy only getting 79% of the Democratic vote, with McMahon getting 15%. I don't think that's going to hold.

[jdw]

http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf...spaper_cla.html

[Ditch]

Quite obviously a reference to WWE, so I don't think "WWE wasn't mentioned by name" will hold up. But it's a poor decision to sue over something like this, especially when it looks like WWE is being used for political purposes.

[kjh]

Round two of Linda McMahon vs. the "bullying" Connecticut media.

 

Not mentioned in my report, but Linda recently made a gaffe that exposed her ignorance on how a base closure and realignment (BRAC) works. I guess another two years isn't enough for Linda to brush up on basic political issues in her state.

[Ditch]

WWE has offered the first three minutes of Raw from online. The company issued an apology in regard to a technical glitch, saying, "Due to a technical malfunction at USA Network's Master Control, the opening of last night's Raw SuperShow was inadvertently interrupted by a 60-second local spot. On behalf of USA Network and those of us here at WWE, we apologize for this error."

ProWrestling.net reports that the Raw interruption that was called a local spot due to a "technical malfunction at USA Network's Master Control" was actually a Linda McMahon campaign ad in Connecticut. WWE didn't mention this in their statement.

Wow.

[Bix]

While i missed the beginning of the show, honestly, I don't see how WWE could be lying (directly or by omission) here. It appears this triggered whatever local ads were cued up on each cable system, and a Linda ad came up on some CT systems. This sounds like someone guessing based on their system getting the Linda ad, not something from within WWE.

[Ditch]

That makes a lot more sense.

[tigerpride]

I got a local ad as well, but it wasn't Linda

[flyonthewall2983]

Linda will not attend GOP convention.

[rovert]

Interesting article linking Linda's Campaign with WWE's stock freefall:

http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/...2259.php#page-1

[sek69]

So what's the actual point in all this? If Linda wins, all they accomplish is blowing a shit ton of money just to be a junior senator in a small state where she'd be the main focus to be unseated in the next election. I keep hearing "it's all about the power" but you get power in Congress by hanging around forever and collecting appointments to various committees, and there's no way Linda would last long enough for that. It's not like she could springboard it into anything higher either, so it's just like the McMahons decided to flush millions down the toilet for no discernable reason.

[Ditch]

Being a US Senator is really, really hard to do outside the tiny states like Wyoming. Since the partisan balance will be 1-2 votes either way most likely, Linda would have leverage beyond her station. Plus it's that much more of an accomplishment given how blue Connecticut is.

 

Also let us not forget that the McMahons are among the most ambitious people ever to walk the face of the earth. The XFL was MUCH more of an uphill climb than this.

[Dooley]

The XFL was MUCH more of an uphill climb than this.

How so?

[sek69]

Being a US Senator is really, really hard to do outside the tiny states like Wyoming. Since the partisan balance will be 1-2 votes either way most likely, Linda would have leverage beyond her station. Plus it's that much more of an accomplishment given how blue Connecticut is.

 

Also let us not forget that the McMahons are among the most ambitious people ever to walk the face of the earth. The XFL was MUCH more of an uphill climb than this.

 

Still, it's a lot of work for little reward. Even if she wins (which seems unlikely), she's not going to have any real power in the Senate. All they're ultimately doing is spending money to further the idea that the McMahons fail in everything they do outside of pro wrestling.

[Loss]

Linda needs to talk policy more. She almost never does. Everything is just about being Linda.

 

She also needs to talk to the media way more, and not as much through spokespeople.

[Ditch]

The XFL was MUCH more of an uphill climb than this.

How so?

 

Beating a Democrat in Conn. is tough. Beating the NFL is another order of magnitude.

 

Still, it's a lot of work for little reward. Even if she wins (which seems unlikely), she's not going to have any real power in the Senate.

Senators are very powerful. All of them. Not in relation to the President, but in absolute terms they're very powerful.

[NintendoLogic]

A lot of the traditional Senate folkways have fallen by the wayside in recent years, but seniority is still king. If there's one thing that veteran Senators hate, it's prima donnas who expect to be treated like a big deal because of their outside accomplishments.

[Bix]

The XFL wasn't supposed to beat the NFL, it was supposed to be be Spring football so NBC would have something with the NFL gone and football fans would have more football. I should probably read "Long Bomb" one of these days to get a better idea what the hell was going on...

[kjh]

Linda needs to talk policy more. She almost never does. Everything is just about being Linda.

 

She also needs to talk to the media way more, and not as much through spokespeople.

The problem is Linda's not on top of the issues (see the 2010 gaffe about not knowing the minimum wage in Connecticut and would consider reducing it, which isn't her only one). I follow the campaign pretty closely and I don't think she's got any unique ideas. She's prescribing the typical Republican solution of a balanced budget amendment (which is economically foolish - running a business is not the same as running an economy), lowering business and middle class taxes (what was that about a balanced budget again?), and less red tape for businesses. As they say, better to shut your mouth than reveal yourself to be ignorant on certain issues.

[Loss]

A lot of the traditional Senate folkways have fallen by the wayside in recent years, but seniority is still king. If there's one thing that veteran Senators hate, it's prima donnas who expect to be treated like a big deal because of their outside accomplishments.

This is how WWE works too, so I would expect Linda to get that.

[Bix]

From what we've gotten of the ads on the NYC market stations, I don't think there's really been anything yet other than BUSINESS WOMAN VS CAREER POLITICAN/Linda has created eleventy zillion jobs in CT/She will get the middle class a completely unexplained $500/month tax cut. It sounds like the Republican debate she was in was basically the same thing. With how closed off her campaign has been to the media, that's literally just about everything she's said so far during this run.

[Loss]

I'm not sure Linda is unique within her party for restricting media access. Even Mitt Romney has done surprisingly few interviews in this campaign cycle, and seems to always be in some tiff with the media when he's trying to cut off their access to something. Add in the tax returns stuff, and Linda and Romney aren't terribly different candidates.

 

But even some of the nuts within the party are more willing to talk policy. Does she really need a full six-year Senate term to do a $500 tax cut, and is that all she wants to accomplish?

[Ricky Jackson]

Does she have a better chance of winning this time around?

[NintendoLogic]

Doubtful. She lost by double digits to a guy who lied about his war record in a strong Republican year. Turnout will be much higher for the presidential election, and she'll have Obama's coattails to contend with.

[Ricky Jackson]

I should probably read "Long Bomb" one of these days to get a better idea what the hell was going on...

 

This is actually a good read. If for nothing else it is interesting for its analysis of Vince and pro wrestling by a non-fan/someone outside the wrestling bubble.