Paid Members Dearly Devoted Dexter Posted August 11, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 Taken from the Greenwich Times :  Republican Linda McMahon is sending her strongest signal yet that she is on the cusp of running for the open Senate seat of retiring incumbent Joe Lieberman in 2012, her second shot at the office in as many years. Multiple people familiar with McMahon's plans say the Greenwich resident and former WWE chief executive has already hired a campaign manager and is burning up the telephone lines trying to cultivate support for her candidacy within the GOP ranks.  Party insiders say that McMahon has tapped Corry Bliss, 30, a Republican strategist who has worked on several high-profile races in Virginia and Vermont, to run her campaign.  When Greenwich Time made an introductory call to Bliss Wednesday saying it had heard he would be working for McMahon, he didn't deny it.  "Yes, I am," Bliss said.  Bliss later couched his comments, however, saying he wasn't on McMahon's payroll because she hasn't definitively declared for the race.  "I am a political consultant who has talked to her," Bliss said. "She has not made up her mind."  Bliss said he would be interested in the job, which is expected to command a hefty sum similar to 2010, when former Republican State Sen. David Cappiello of Danbury received an annual salary of $280,000 to run McMahon's campaign.  "I think she'd be a great candidate and would be interested in helping her if she so chose to run for the Senate," he said.  Bliss most recently managed the 2010 gubernatorial campaign of Republican Brian Dubie in Vermont, where the former lieutenant governor lost to Democrat Peter Shumlin 49 percent to 48 percent.  A message seeking comment from McMahon, the matriarch of the WWE wrestling empire and wife of Vince McMahon, was left Wednesday with her Hartford publicist.  One person who won't be at the helm of McMahon's ship but had been rumored to be in the mix is Phil Cox, executive director of the Republican Governors Association.  "Interesting, but sorry to disappoint," Cox wrote in an e-mail Wednesday to Greenwich Time. "No truth to that whatsoever. I have never spoken to her or any member of her campaign team and have my plate extremely full with the best job in politics -- ED of the RGA."  Cox served as campaign manager for Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell in 2009, engineering an 18-point landslide victory.  "We have a great opportunity to pick up additional seats in the next two years, and I'm fully committed to doing all that I can to make that happen," Cox said.  Another name that political observers can cross off the list is Brooks Kochvar, who characterized rumors that he is McMahon's hired gun as completely false.  Kochvar worked as campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and former U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. In 2007, Kochvar was chief of staff for controversial U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., a current White House hopeful.  "I've never been contacted by their campaign," Kochvar said Wednesday.  McMahon spent $50 million of her vast personal fortune on an unsuccessful bid for the Senate in 2010, coming up 11 points short against longtime Democratic state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.  Her foes turned the bitter contest into a referendum on the professional wrestling industry, with McMahon polling weakly among female voters.  Unlike her first run for office, which was entirely self-funded, McMahon is said by GOP insiders to be leaning toward accepting political donations this time.  Waiting in the wings is a stable of Democrats that includes U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, state Rep. William Tong, of Stamford, and Sylvester Salcedo, an Orange resident who practices law in Bridgeport.  McMahon could face a battle for the GOP nomination, as former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., is said by party stalwarts to be close to entering the race.  A number of prominent Republicans across the state acknowledged that McMahon has reached out them in recent weeks to shore up their support, with her telling them that she is "99.9 percent" in the race to succeed Lieberman.  If she couldn't beat a guy who lied about his war record last time why does she think she can do better this time around? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Your Fight Site Posted August 11, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted August 11, 2011 She spent $50 million of her own wealth? Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Quagmire Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I noticed after Linda lost the US Senate election last year that the WWE were testing a little as to see if they could push their TV-PG rating to a slightly more 'mature" level whereas the months beforehand saw a very sanitised product being promoted presumably so that her rivals could not use ongoing storylines against her. If she really does attempt to run again, the type of product we seen for most of 2010 will likely return I'd say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Showtime Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 If she really does attempt to run again, the type of product we seen for most of 2010 will likely return I'd say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 That is a worry. The woman and her family are political jokes, and rightly so. I wish the lot of them would realise that they're good at promoting wrestling, and fuck all else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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