WWE's Linda McMahon aims for smackdown of Dodd

godtabh

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WASHINGTON - Pro wrestling executive Linda McMahon has never been shy about wading into the ring - and now she’s plotting a smackdown of Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. said yesterday McMahon has resigned as the company’s chief executive to seek the Republican nomination for Dodd’s seat, providing a show-business twist to one of the nation’s marquee Senate races.

“I just can’t sit on the sidelines anymore,’’ she told Fox Business Network yesterday. “Washington needs fresh faces, it needs some new blood.’’

McMahon, 60, launched her candidacy saying the five-term incumbent Dodd has “lost his way and our trust.’’ Dodd plans to run for a sixth term next year and is seen as one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats. He also faces a Democratic challenger, businessman Merrick Alpert.

While Dodd is playing a key role in health care and financial regulation overhauls, he has been criticized for being too close to Wall Street and accepting sizable campaign donations from the financial industry.

McMahon vowed to “run a very different campaign,’’ limiting individual contributions to $100 and not accepting contributions from political action committees and special interests - suggesting she will use her personal fortune to finance much of her campaign. McMahon’s candidacy recalls the move brash Jesse Ventura made back in 1999, jumping from pro wrestling to the Minnesota governorship.

Linda and Vince McMahon, a professional wrestler, announcer and promoter, cofounded WWE, which is behind such television shows as “Raw’’ and “Friday Night SmackDown’’ and is known for its over-the-top performers, rowdy story lines, and scantily clad women known as “divas.’’

McMahon and her family have been occasional performers. McMahon, who typically worked behind the scenes at the WWE, has said she has appeared in portions of the shows at least several dozen times during her more than 25-year-career. One video on the Internet shows her in the ring, appearing to kick a man in the groin.

McMahon faces three other Republicans: former US Representative Rob Simmons, state Senator Sam Caligiuri, and former US Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley.

McMahon could face criticism for some unsavory aspects of WWE’s programming, particularly its sexually suggestive and violent themes. The WWE has also been under fire in recent years after the unexpected deaths of several former and active wrestlers, some of which have been related to substance abuse.

When McMahon was appointed by Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell to the Connecticut Board of Education, she sparked criticism from some lawmakers who said it sent a wrong message to children. Her appointment was approved by the General Assembly this year. -- ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hope this hasnt been posted already

Bounty Hunter

kearnsr wrote: »

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Hope this hasnt been posted already

iirc her doing this obviously means that she is going to step down from her current WWE role and Vince is going to atleast temporarily take up her duties.

CMpunked

This is not going to work out for her at all.

I can imagine the first public debate thingy:

(her opponent)
"Cast your mind back to 2001 and just a few months before the terror attacks, Mrs. McMahon was pretending to be incapacitated and looked on as her husband was forcefully unloyal in scenes."


People will see this as a joke and it wont happen.

In saying that, they did elect the Terminator to the governor of california!

Riddle101

I wonder if Vince McMahon will push her campaign on Raw or Smackdown. WWE has always kind've played politics in the past like with the Obama/McCain and so on so it's possible Vince will proberly sneak in a few jabs with WWE.

Bounty Hunter

Riddle101 wrote: »

I wonder if Vince McMahon will push her campaign on Raw or Smackdown. WWE has always kind've played politics in the past like with the Obama/McCain and so on so it's possible Vince will proberly sneak in a few jabs with WWE.

i doubt he (Vince) will take pot shots at her opponents on air but you can be sure that her running for it will get mentioned and that nobody else will be getting the same free publicity. He will of course be encouraging WWE fans in Connecticut to Smackdown their vote for Linda. Atleast that would be my guess.

flahavaj

The fact that shes married to a real life embarrassment of monumental proportions mean this will surely end in a EPIC FAIL.

chopperbyrne

flahavaj wrote: »

The fact that shes married to a real life embarrassment of monumental proportions mean this will surely end in a EPIC FAIL.

I think you don't understand the American mentality. Vince McMahon is the embodiment of the American Dream. He turned a regional company he inherited into a worldwide phenomenon and made himself a billionaire in the process.

geeky

Are there other serious Republican contenders for the nomination? If she gets to run for the GOP, she'll have a fair shout, though the WWE's past will probably bite her in the backside.

flahavaj

Thats all well and good chopperand I'm well aware of how that kind of success story can resonate with the American people.

But theres also reams of embarrassing stuff that her opponents can sling at her and Vince from the steroid scandal in the nineties, to the many deaths under suspicious circumstance sin the wrestling industry in the last few years, to his embarrassing forcing himself on every Diva in the company on TV over the years, to the latent racism that underpins many of his storylines and gimmicks etc etc. Look at the scandal that Sarah Palin's daughter getting up the duff caused during her campaign last year and multiply it by 10 for all the stuff Vince has done and said over the years.

davrho

flahavaj wrote: »

Thats all well and good chopperand I'm well aware of how that kind of success story can resonate with the American people.

But theres also reams of embarrassing stuff that her opponents can sling at her and Vince from the steroid scandal in the nineties, to the many deaths under suspicious circumstance sin the wrestling industry in the last few years, to his embarrassing forcing himself on every Diva in the company on TV over the years, to the latent racism that underpins many of his storylines and gimmicks etc etc. Look at the scandal that Sarah Palin's daughter getting up the duff caused during her campaign last year and multiply it by 10 for all the stuff Vince has done and said over the years.

You pushing Vince for president? Sounds over qualified.

flahavaj

LOL, makes the bauld Bill Clinton look like an altar boy.

Fozzy

geeky wrote: »

Are there other serious Republican contenders for the nomination? If she gets to run for the GOP, she'll have a fair shout, though the WWE's past will probably bite her in the backside.

There are four or five other Republican candidates. I'd be very surprised if she got elected. Although if they managed to get the youths to vote she'd be in with a chance