This blog has long been a proponent of WWE "characters" getting involved in politics (see here for my pitch for "Mr. Kennedy" for Senate, and here for Chris Jericho's smackdown of Barack Obama) So I am thrilled that one of the minds behind this incredible cash machine, Linda McMahon, is hoping to take on Crooked Chris Dodd (D-Conn) in the state's upcoming Senate race:
GREENWICH, Conn. – World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. says Linda McMahon is stepping down as its chief executive to seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat from Connecticut now held by Democrat Christopher Dodd.
WWE said in a statement Wednesday morning that McMahon's husband, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, is assuming her duties as CEO.
Linda McMahon formally announced her candidacy Wednesday morning. She says Washington is "out of control" and Dodd has "lost his way and our trust."
The 60-year-old McMahon is up against three other Republicans — former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, state Sen. Sam Caligiuri and former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley.
Linda is committed to doing things differently. She will run a campaign that is largely self-financed. She will not accept PAC contributions or special interest cash. She will limit personal contributions to $100 or less.
Linda is a fiscal conservative who believes in America and its free market, free enterprise system. She believes government ought to incentivize job creators, and that small businesses need access to capital and credit in order to create jobs.
Will being married to the 20th Century's equivalent of P.T. Barnum (Vince McMahon), and the fact she has often played on-screen roles in multiple WWE storylines ("Linda's on-screen character turned heel for the first time on the October 10, 2005 episode of "Raw" when she "fired" commentator Jim Ross and delivered a 'low blow' to him.") be a hindrance to Linda? Well, she also has done a heck of a lot of charitable work:
McMahon became a member of the Board of Trustees of Sacred Heart University (Fairfield, Connecticut) in November 2004. She supports many organizations, including the USO, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, the Starlight Foundation, and Community Mayors. In 2005, she won appointment to The Make-A-Wish Foundation of America National Advisory Council and was presented the Arthur M. Sackler Award from the Connecticut Grand Opera and Orchestra for WWE's support of its arts education program. McMahon is also responsible for the creation of WWE's Get R.E.A.L. educational and literacy programs and WWE's SmackDown! Your Vote! campaign.
Not to mention the great work the WWE does with the military overseas - flying wrestlers into combat zones to entertain soldiers, engaging in charity work, and generally engaging in good, old fashioned jingoism...
Forget the storylines for a moment. This is a women - with her brilliant but mercurial husband - who took a "sport" that used to air one hour a week at midnight and turned it into a multi-billion dollar worldwide business, with six hours of television broadcasts weekly, sold-out arena shows virtually every night, monthly pay-per-view with grosses in the tens of millions, and an ungodly amount of merchandising, from action figures to DVD collections.
Think she knows a little bit more about how the economy works that Chris Dodd, who has spent the last 30 years in the Senate? Or how about a certain president, who keeps getting confused on what the difference between "profit" and "overhead" is?
Go for it, Linda. Time to put Dodd in a chokehold, and if he doesn't tap out, hit him with a finisher....
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