Linda McMahon has just earned the nomination from the Republican Party to run for the United States Senate. One of the two seats is open. Linda McMahon is indeed the wife of Vince McMahon Jr., and she is the previous CEO of WWE Entertainment. She quit the family business to run for the Senate seat, which Chris Dodd is retiring from as his term runs out.
Linda McMahon is not running a kayfabe campaign
Linda McMahon is making a large point of principle with her run for office by financing the entire thing herself, with no donations from taxpayer election funds, interest groups, or Political Action Committees whatsoever. She’s already spent $ 22 million of her own money and is just fine with more having to be doled out by November, as outlined by ABC. She’s running against Dick Blumenthal, the Connecticut Attorney General since 1991 and previously a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives and Connecticut State Senate.
Will the policy debate take place in a steel cage?
Linda McMahon is a classic neo-conservative. Fiscally conservative policies, with emphasis on deregulation and job creation, are big parts of her platform. She has come out in support of Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan, but is notably hawkish on Iran. She isn’t afraid to break with Republican orthodoxy, as she has donated cash to a pro-choice PAC though she has said she’s opposed to partial-birth abortions. She is friendlier to LGBT issues than the President has seemed to be so far, as she is for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policies and doesn’t think the federal government should have a say concerning gay marriage.
So what’s with Linda McMahon running?
Another famous and rich person is running for office. She isn’t really the first person do that, but her direction of WWE as CEO took the business public, the only pro wrestling organization that is publicly traded, and is now almost as popular as NASCAR. (The McMahons do own most of the shares.) She has some very popular platforms, and she may well prove to be exactly what voters are looking for. So what exactly are you going to do, brother, when Wrestle mania goes to Washington?
More on this topic available at these websites
ABC News
abcnews.com/george/2010/08/linda-mcmahon-i-will-spend-what-it-takes.html
CT Mirror
ctmirror.org/story/5215/mcmahons-investment-produces-its-first-returns
