Bix Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Time to quote that Meltzer post from 2009 again: Let's just say, hypothetically, that I'm running a company where underage boys were being molested for years and it's known, accepted and laughed about because, hey, it's a world you don't understand with different rules. Then one day it becomes front page news. Was the owner ignorant for letting it continue unabated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Nothing is impossible. I could sprout a forty inch dick and use it as an atomic pogostick to get to Jupiter right now in theory. But the odds of that are very small. Not as small as the odds of Vince being elected to the Senate mind you, but small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Comparisons to Al Franken don't work. Running as a liberal Democrat in Minnesota is far less of an uphill climb than running as a conservative Republican in Connecticut. Plus, Franken has exponentially more interest in and understanding of policy. And let's not make too much of the charisma thing. Donald Trump is charismatic. He's also universally regarded as a buffoon. Same with Vince. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Time to quote that Meltzer post from 2009 again: Let's just say, hypothetically, that I'm running a company where underage boys were being molested for years and it's known, accepted and laughed about because, hey, it's a world you don't understand with different rules. Then one day it becomes front page news. Was the owner ignorant for letting it continue unabated? Last I checked, Tom Corbett was still governor of Pennsylvania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 The fact that Jesse Ventura got elected with all the shit he'd said as a heel and commentator, with all the stupid costumes etc., I mean they didn't make a difference in the end. Not seeing how Vince is any more "wacky" than Ventura must have seemed in the late 90s. For all of Ventura's wackiness, it's not like he didn't gather experience prior to becoming governor, what with becoming mayor of Brooklyn Park. I'm also guessing he had seen his share of political stuff when involved with the Navy as well. It's not like he just jumped into politics, unlike Linda, who had no experience at all prior to the 2010 campaign. (Politics and business can often be two very different games.) Loss is right about all the skeletons in Vince's closet. All the stuff that's already been mentioned in this thread, all the steroid stuff over the years, all the early wrestler deaths. This stuff could've easily been used versus Linda. It would be even easier versus Vince. Most people would recognize Vince as the person in charge. Linda would often just be argued as someone involved with the company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cox Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Vince has no patience for the media, can't have his ideas challenged without reacting aggressively, and is a war profiteer and drug addict that has fired people who are good in media settings and would be happy to cut ads against him. He hired a doctor to dispense illegal drugs so his wrestlers could look more muscular, and is an accused rapist. He has built an infrastructure that allows him to fuck women who work for him without fear of reprisal, and there is video footage of him using the N-word on WWE programming. He doesn't provide health care to his wrestlers, and doesn't even consider them employees. And you think he would be a good candidate? Come on.To be fair, you just described like 90% of our elected officials in this country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 90% of our elected officials have used the N-word on WWE programming and don't consider their wrestlers employees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cox Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Didn't you see the episode of Raw where Harry Reid dropped the n-bomb??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Cross Face, that's really interesting stuff, thanks for taking the time to explain it. As for the rest of the stuff on Vince, guys, we live in a world where this man: Is the Mayor of London. He just got re-elected for a second term and as of right now is probably the most popular politician in the UK. He's also a complete buffoon, with a long history of doing and saying stupid shit -- all part of his "charm". Also, lest I remind you, that you had a certain President not too long along ago. All of which is to say that Vince isn't a complete no hoper. I still agree with the idea that he'd have had more chance than Linda, despite everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 There's a difference between being zany and being a bad person. And European politics are not American politics. Rape is not like riding a bicycle, although it's possible that once you learn how you never forget, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Linda continues to pick up stream as comedy fodder: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49725978 Wouldn't be shocked to hear her come up on a montage on one of Late Night chat shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 As far as Vince being electable or not..... I'll just say, there is so much dirt that could have been dug up on Linda McMahon that wasn't, her role in the steroid scandal and the independent contractor BS to name two of the obvious, and instead it was just "HOT LESBIAN ACTION" youtube videos We talk about the "wrestling bubble" a lot, but people who are paid to find dirt on people, with millions of dollars riding on it, did a hack smear job on Linda. I'm not sure what that says about anything, but seriously, a lot of us could have done a better job at discrediting her than the Democratic Party of Connecticut and their offshoots did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I think the independent contractor stuff is a non-starter, honestly. A healthy portion of the Republican party regards job benefits as "job killing regulations." It seems like every corporation tries to squeeze as much as it can from its workforce and no one bats an eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted November 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 People who aren't Republicans vote in elections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 She promoted herself as a job creator, a vacuous claim in itself.....they could have absolutely buried her if they dug into WWE re: unions and worker benefits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 2010 55% Blumenthal 43% Linda 2012 55% Murphy 43% Linda It's rather amazing that another $50M couldn't raise her above where she lost the last time. One might give Obama credit for coattails and that hurting Linda, but Obama "only" won CT by a 58/40.8 split. Linda didn't outperform Romney by much. A bigger contrast: MA 60.8% Obama 37.6% Romney 53.7% Warren 46.3% Brown Brown was actually able to pull away Obama voters from Warren. Anyway, Nate's projections on the states were interesting. That's a state where Nate's projections were: For CT: 56.6-42.5 Obama +14.1 52.6-45.6 Murphy +7.0 For Mass: 59.0-39.9 Obama +19.1 51.7-47.3 Warren +4.4 Around two points off on Dem/GOP numbers. Linda was did worse than the polling would indicate. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 No matter how much money you have, you have to give people some reason to vote for you. Linda's claim to fame is building a business that she didn't really build and that she's afraid to talk about. She had literally nothing to offer other than her ability to buy television ads without raising money. I'm amazed that people here think Vince's sins are anywhere within the normal range for an American political candidate. He's a sleezy death merchant whose television program is a 20-year advertisement for extremely troubling views about race, gender, health, etc. I agree that the CT political reporters didn't do the best job of digging on Linda, but I think the coverage would have ramped to a whole different level with Vince as a candidate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cross Face Chicken Wing Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I'm amazed that people here think Vince's sins are anywhere within the normal range for an American political candidate. They're not. But they don't make him unelectable. With the right campaign, he's far more electable than Linda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 On Vince running... he wouldn't have a shot of winning in CT. Could he win someplace else if (i) he had a well run campaign, and (ii) he followed the orders of that well run campaign? Quite possible. There are a lot of places Rand Paul couldn't have won. There are a lot of candidates against which Rand Paul could have lost. TN was a favorable state for him, especially in 2010. After pissing off the GOP Machine by running in and winning the primary (read Mitch as much as anyone), they circled the wagon around him... and actually got him to be very careful about what he said and where he appeared. He wasn't running against an strong candidate. There are plenty of other places in the country where he could have won a similar seat in 2010, depending on the opponents. If Vince got the GOP Senate nomination in Alabama, he'd win 95% of the time. He's just have to avoid stepping on his cock with something as problematic as Akin/Mourdock. Even then, perhaps Vince and his handlers could talk their way out of it. CT is different. Vince's baggage would be a problem he couldn't overcome. Not in this era. Jesse was a different era, different state, and with far less baggage. He was the recent "Mayor Ventura", which made him moderately respectable. I'm not entirely sure if Franken is analogous to either, other than the "entertainment" background. Certainly not to Vince if Vince just upped and left wrestling for a run at the Senate. Franken had been outspoken in politics since the Rush book, which was a decade before. Three rather outspoken best sellers. He's closer to say Maddow leaving the booth and running for office. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 There are a lot of places Rand Paul couldn't have won. There are a lot of candidates against which Rand Paul could have lost. TN was a favorable state for him, especially in 2010. After pissing off the GOP Machine by running in and winning the primary (read Mitch as much as anyone), they circled the wagon around him... and actually got him to be very careful about what he said and where he appeared. He wasn't running against an strong candidate. There are plenty of other places in the country where he could have won a similar seat in 2010, depending on the opponents. Paul was also riding the Tea Party wave which was very strong in '10. His opponent also self-destructed in a debate. He kept bringing up some fraternity prank that Paul participated in in college and trying to pass it off like Paul was some kind of "devil-worshipper" or something. I was at that debate. It was entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Franken won on being an intelligent, well spoken liberal at the height of anti-Bush fever I like Al Franken, don't agree with him on everything and he started going too left once he got the political spotlight (his Air America show was a disaster), but him being elected was kind of a fluke thing, and it's not at all analogous to a hypothetical Vince McMahon campaign, or anything else really. It was an odd moment in time that would be hard to repeat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 I don't think Franken getting elected was a fluke, certainly not to the degree that Ventura's was. As CFCW walked through, a lot of things came together for Jesse to win, the most important being that neither party had a strong candidate that could hold the entire base that party usually draws from. If either got to 40%, Jesse didn't win. Franken won his party's nomination. He was a active part of political discussion for more than a decade. He'd talked about running before that. While the third party wasn't without votes, it really was a battle between a Dem and a GOP incumbent. Franken won. He's been flat out on his best Senatorial behavior both when running and since then. Those of us who would like to see the old Al just ripping the fuck out of the GOP as Lying Liars in a way that is both funny but biting have been shit out of luck: he's put that away. I get the sense of three things: * he wants to step away from being boxed in as a Comedian rather than a Senator * that both in terms of the initial election and also the re-election * he likely feels that if he wins re-election, the seat is his for as long as he wants barring the state going hard right Klobuchar just won re-election with 65.2% of the vote. Franken may not ever get that high, but he's working hard to be Senator Franken and focused on his state. If he retains the belt in 2014, he knows that barring being completely bonkers or the state turning red he's going to be one of those Senators for Life. There's an incentive for him to be mellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Most politicians are way more evil than Vince could ever be. He would need two terms in the Senate to even enter a beginners class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueminister Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 The fact that Jesse Ventura got elected with all the shit he'd said as a heel and commentator, with all the stupid costumes etc., I mean they didn't make a difference in the end.Vince worked to cover up what he at least suspected to be a murder and I'm gonna go ahead and say that he probably raped a girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 I'm as cynical about politicians as the next person, but that's ridiculous Victator, unless you're going for some sort of abstract argument that they're part of a system that's evil to the core. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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