LionDen
03-28-2010, 02:07 AM
The Stamford Advocate has a story about how "flamboyant" Vince McMahon has been keeping a low profile during wife Linda's bid to win the Republican bid to run for Senate in Connecticut.
Paging Vince McMahon: Flamboyant WWE showman keeps a low profile during wife's Senate run
In the world of professional wrestling, they are the epitome of a tag team.
So much so that when Vince McMahon climbs into the ring with Bret "Hitman" Hart in front of an audience of millions Sunday at WrestleMania XXVI in Glendale, Ariz., GOP Senate candidate Linda McMahon will take a brief detour from the campaign trail to bear witness to the lucrative brand that she built with her flamboyant, some say over-the-top, husband.
From the Yale-Harvard football tailgate in New Haven to Republican Town Committee meetings in every corner of the state to a televised debate in Hartford, Linda McMahon is, in sharp contrast, a solo act.
Six months into his wife's candidacy, there has yet to be a Vince McMahon sighting on the campaign trail, fueling speculation that the wrestling promoter's absence -- much like the bouts themselves -- is scripted.
"If I was advising her, I would keep him muzzled," said Douglas Schoen, a Democratic pollster and Fox News Channel contributor who worked for former President Bill Clinton.
From a strategic standpoint, Schoen said that McMahon looms as a major liability for his wife's candidacy because of his wrestling ring shenanigans.
"I think some of the skits and approach he's taken, admittedly as part of a performance, raise themes and issues that are probably best left to the realm of entertainment, not governing the country," Schoen said.
Busy preparing for WrestleMania at the University of Phoenix Stadium, site of Super Bowl XLII between the Giants and Patriots, Vince McMahon was not available for comment.
A spokesman for Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment dismissed speculation that McMahon was told by the campaign to stay in the shadows.
"Mr. McMahon is the chairman and CEO of a global entertainment company, and therefore his focus is on the growth and development of the WWE brand," WWE's Robert Zimmerman said. "His day-to-day commitments are to the company and its shareholders. Mr. McMahon believes that his wife, Linda, will be a great U.S. senator for Connecticut and plans to vote for her."
Linda McMahon's surrogates said the political opposition and talking heads shouldn't read too much into Vince's absence.
"Linda and Vince have been married for 43 years, and obviously they are incredibly supportive of each other, but we reject the notion that in 2010, a successful and accomplished businesswoman who grew a small business into a global enterprise with over 500 employees can't campaign for Senate by herself," said Ed Patru, a spokesman for McMahon's campaign.
State Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo said she isn't buying it one bit.
"Naturally, they're going to not have Vince there so people can remember the company that she has created, which promotes sex and violence," DiNardo said.
The campaign of Republican rival Rob Simmons, a former congressman from Stonington, has tried to make political hay on the WWE topic.
It released an Internet video Thursday, coinciding with WrestleMania festivities, highlighting several WWE performers who had died in their 30s and 40s.
A spokesman for Simmons, who is trailing McMahon by 10 percentage points in the most recent public opinion poll despite hammering away at what he has characterized as WWE's loose drug policy, declined to comment.
A second video recently produced by the Simmons campaign shows a clip from the ESPN investigative show "Outside the Lines" from March 30, 1999, showing WWE wrestlers "flipping the bird" and drinking blood.
The video ends with footage from a March 2001 Monday Night Raw episode featuring Vince McMahon and fitness model-turned-wrestler Trish Stratus.
"Mr. McMahon, not even you know how far I would degrade myself for the right cause," Stratus said.
McMahon's ensuing remarks would become bulletin board material in a political race almost a decade later.
"Well, you chose the right cause, Trish," McMahon said. "Take your clothes off. I used to have a female dog, and that dog did everything I told her to do. Now damn it, get down, get down. Damn it, bark like a dog."
McMahon's campaign accused Simmons of grasping at straws to bolster what it characterized as his fledgling candidacy.
"Rob Simmons has put all his time and resources and energy into making wrestling the predominant narrative in this race, and he's been successful in doing that, to an extent," Patru said. "But the 38-point free fall he's experienced in the polls as a result speaks for itself. Voters in Connecticut know the difference between soap opera entertainment and real issues, and the momentum behind Linda's campaign is there because people have lost faith in career politicians, and they want a senator with a proven track record of job creation."
Before Linda McMahon launched her candidacy, she and her husband were spotted rubbing elbows with Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell last June at the state GOP's Prescott Bush annual fundraising dinner in Stamford.
When McMahon, Simmons and Peter Schiff, the third Republican in the Senate race, met earlier this month for a televised debate at the University of Hartford, Vince McMahon was a no-show, however. The candidate was accompanied by her daughter, Stephanie, and son, Shane.
State Rep. Livvy Floren, R-149th District, who represents parts of Greenwich and Stamford, said it shouldn't matter.
"He's not the candidate," Floren said. "I think it's smart because she's out there trying to get name recognition and get her message across. I think if there were two of them, it would just confuse people."
McMahon's supporters and foes alike have a better chance of seeing her famous husband Sunday during WrestleMania XXVI, a pay-per-view cash cow for the WWE brand.
It'll cost them, however -- from $54.95 to $64.95, depending whether they want to see Vince in standard or high definition.
"I think Vince McMahon has plenty to do running a billion-dollar corporation," Schoen said. "I think you will see him worrying more about chair shots than points of debate."
Original article can be found by clicking here (http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Paging-Vince-McMahon-Flamboyant-WWE-showman-424644.php)!
Paging Vince McMahon: Flamboyant WWE showman keeps a low profile during wife's Senate run
In the world of professional wrestling, they are the epitome of a tag team.
So much so that when Vince McMahon climbs into the ring with Bret "Hitman" Hart in front of an audience of millions Sunday at WrestleMania XXVI in Glendale, Ariz., GOP Senate candidate Linda McMahon will take a brief detour from the campaign trail to bear witness to the lucrative brand that she built with her flamboyant, some say over-the-top, husband.
From the Yale-Harvard football tailgate in New Haven to Republican Town Committee meetings in every corner of the state to a televised debate in Hartford, Linda McMahon is, in sharp contrast, a solo act.
Six months into his wife's candidacy, there has yet to be a Vince McMahon sighting on the campaign trail, fueling speculation that the wrestling promoter's absence -- much like the bouts themselves -- is scripted.
"If I was advising her, I would keep him muzzled," said Douglas Schoen, a Democratic pollster and Fox News Channel contributor who worked for former President Bill Clinton.
From a strategic standpoint, Schoen said that McMahon looms as a major liability for his wife's candidacy because of his wrestling ring shenanigans.
"I think some of the skits and approach he's taken, admittedly as part of a performance, raise themes and issues that are probably best left to the realm of entertainment, not governing the country," Schoen said.
Busy preparing for WrestleMania at the University of Phoenix Stadium, site of Super Bowl XLII between the Giants and Patriots, Vince McMahon was not available for comment.
A spokesman for Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment dismissed speculation that McMahon was told by the campaign to stay in the shadows.
"Mr. McMahon is the chairman and CEO of a global entertainment company, and therefore his focus is on the growth and development of the WWE brand," WWE's Robert Zimmerman said. "His day-to-day commitments are to the company and its shareholders. Mr. McMahon believes that his wife, Linda, will be a great U.S. senator for Connecticut and plans to vote for her."
Linda McMahon's surrogates said the political opposition and talking heads shouldn't read too much into Vince's absence.
"Linda and Vince have been married for 43 years, and obviously they are incredibly supportive of each other, but we reject the notion that in 2010, a successful and accomplished businesswoman who grew a small business into a global enterprise with over 500 employees can't campaign for Senate by herself," said Ed Patru, a spokesman for McMahon's campaign.
State Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo said she isn't buying it one bit.
"Naturally, they're going to not have Vince there so people can remember the company that she has created, which promotes sex and violence," DiNardo said.
The campaign of Republican rival Rob Simmons, a former congressman from Stonington, has tried to make political hay on the WWE topic.
It released an Internet video Thursday, coinciding with WrestleMania festivities, highlighting several WWE performers who had died in their 30s and 40s.
A spokesman for Simmons, who is trailing McMahon by 10 percentage points in the most recent public opinion poll despite hammering away at what he has characterized as WWE's loose drug policy, declined to comment.
A second video recently produced by the Simmons campaign shows a clip from the ESPN investigative show "Outside the Lines" from March 30, 1999, showing WWE wrestlers "flipping the bird" and drinking blood.
The video ends with footage from a March 2001 Monday Night Raw episode featuring Vince McMahon and fitness model-turned-wrestler Trish Stratus.
"Mr. McMahon, not even you know how far I would degrade myself for the right cause," Stratus said.
McMahon's ensuing remarks would become bulletin board material in a political race almost a decade later.
"Well, you chose the right cause, Trish," McMahon said. "Take your clothes off. I used to have a female dog, and that dog did everything I told her to do. Now damn it, get down, get down. Damn it, bark like a dog."
McMahon's campaign accused Simmons of grasping at straws to bolster what it characterized as his fledgling candidacy.
"Rob Simmons has put all his time and resources and energy into making wrestling the predominant narrative in this race, and he's been successful in doing that, to an extent," Patru said. "But the 38-point free fall he's experienced in the polls as a result speaks for itself. Voters in Connecticut know the difference between soap opera entertainment and real issues, and the momentum behind Linda's campaign is there because people have lost faith in career politicians, and they want a senator with a proven track record of job creation."
Before Linda McMahon launched her candidacy, she and her husband were spotted rubbing elbows with Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell last June at the state GOP's Prescott Bush annual fundraising dinner in Stamford.
When McMahon, Simmons and Peter Schiff, the third Republican in the Senate race, met earlier this month for a televised debate at the University of Hartford, Vince McMahon was a no-show, however. The candidate was accompanied by her daughter, Stephanie, and son, Shane.
State Rep. Livvy Floren, R-149th District, who represents parts of Greenwich and Stamford, said it shouldn't matter.
"He's not the candidate," Floren said. "I think it's smart because she's out there trying to get name recognition and get her message across. I think if there were two of them, it would just confuse people."
McMahon's supporters and foes alike have a better chance of seeing her famous husband Sunday during WrestleMania XXVI, a pay-per-view cash cow for the WWE brand.
It'll cost them, however -- from $54.95 to $64.95, depending whether they want to see Vince in standard or high definition.
"I think Vince McMahon has plenty to do running a billion-dollar corporation," Schoen said. "I think you will see him worrying more about chair shots than points of debate."
Original article can be found by clicking here (http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Paging-Vince-McMahon-Flamboyant-WWE-showman-424644.php)!