wtf? WWE's Linda McMahon resigns to run for Senate against Dodd...

[RepublicanElephant]

...as a republican.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2...


geez, talk about sports entertainment!

[Heidi]

1. Wife of Vince "Kiss my ass" McMahon.

Following the collapse of the WCW/ECW Alliance at Survivor Series in 2001, McMahon created the "Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club", also known as the "Mr. McMahon Kiss My Ass Club", which consisted of various WWE individuals being ordered to kiss his ass in the middle of the ring, usually with the threat of suspension or firing if they refused. The club was originally proclaimed closed by The Rock after McMahon was forced to kiss Rikishi's ass on an episode of SmackDown!;<29> however, the club segment has resurfaced several times over the years. The gimmick has also spawned its own Internet based cartoon entitled "Mr. McMahon's Kiss My Ass Club - The WWE's Most Valuable Asset." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_McMahon

[Fearless]

12. Try this one... which came about because of that idiotic thingy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6tNGn81UUU

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. Too bad for her 14-YO boys can't vote. nt

[phleshdef]

3. Laugh all you want. Linda McMahon is a smart lady and that scares the hell out of me.

I use to be a professional wrestling fan back in the day and I followed a lot of the insider bs back then. Linda McMahon is no dumbass. She has been very involved in the business side of WWE for a long time. She could actually fair well in a debate I believe. We need to start backing Dodd a bit harder or we might just lose him.

[brendan120678]

4. Yep, from a business side of things...

she's pretty savvy. She's also already semi-involved in Connecticut politics, as she was recently appointed to the State Board of Education. Dodd needs to get serious with this. He's already partially blowing this off, hinting that he won't get concerned with running for re-election until next year.

[maryellen99]

7. She became a Republican

Because the Clinton Justice Department tried and failed to send Vince away for steroid distribution I think. The Mcmahon family has always thought that was a witch hunt.

[Fearless]

13. There are very few Democratic billionaires too.

Within the industry it is well known that both of them are very conservative.

[musicblind]

22. They're conservative in an ODD way. But heres what I gather about McMahon's strange political take

You are right, I'm also a wrestling fan, and used write for a local promotion till it went under. And I know the McMahons hate Obama, and are republican. ... But they also come off liberal on many "social" issues. Not bleeding heart liberals who wouldn't compromise for a buck, but...

I remember when they had the Rock, and other face characters being so kind and supportive to Billy & Chuck (a "gay" tag team) leading up to their televised gay marriage. They portrayed the wedding in a positive light. Vince is also friends with Pat Paterson who was lead booker for the company and who is openly gay. Now I know that GLAAD got upset that Eric Bishoff (a heel/or bad guy) crashed the wedding but what wrestling wedding, straight or gay, hasn't been crashed?

I remember Vince let Terri Runnels speak about a woman's right to choose in a vignette building up to the 2000 presidential election as well.

Vince is also not shy of Family Guy-esque humor and pushing the envelope, and he has made fun of God/religion in his program multiple times (something I don't approve of either but his shows are full of things I don't approve off, including the xenophobia)

That said, he does come off as a huge supporter of the War In Iraq and he is very pro-Capitalism.

All I'm trying to get at is that, while I think the McMahons are fiscal conservatives who support Capitalism and republican control for means of benefiting their pocket books... I do not get the impression they they are social conservatives. They are just money obsessed.

I will be very interested to see what their platform is. Not because I would ever vote for a republican or even CONSIDER voting for a republican, but because I wonder if they'll try and run on conservative social values after years of making a program that supports anything BUT conservative social values. They should be more Libertarian if anything, especially since they have acted in ways that would suggest they support things like legalizing marijuana.

[Fearless]

28. As it seems to go with many media moguls...

I very much agree.

[Dramarama]

11. Gotta agree

She isn't taking money from PAC's. Who knows

[Metric System]

5. The only good thing I can say is that she is supposedly not a social conservative. She is pro-choice

She has donated to REPUBLICAN MAJORITY FOR CHOICE and according to Wikipedia:

"The Republican Majority for Choice is a Republican organization in the United States dedicated to preserving legal access to abortion. The group also supports federal funding for all kinds of stem cell research, inculding Embryonic stem cell research.

RMC has a political action committee and supports pro-choice Republicans across the country."

Apparently, the only Republican Senator they supported in 2008 was Susan Collins from Maine, which goes to show how anti-choice that party is. It will be interesting to see whether McMahon veers to the right on social issues. What I find odd is that for years the WWE has been attacked by conservative groups, like the Parents Television Council, so it's odd that they're on the same side politically. Whatever. I hope she loses.

Oh, and from her website:

"I didn't vote in the ’08 presidential primary after John McCain was the presumptive nominee. I regret it, I apologize, and I don't make any excuses for it. I think it’s important that leaders be willing to step up and own their mistakes when they make them."

Interesting.

[musicblind]

23. The McMahons have also shown signs of supporting gay rights

And GLAAD even gave them a bowl from pottery barn in the build up to Bill & Chuck's gay wedding on their program. (They had the face (or good guy) wrestlers supporting the wedding) GLAAD did disapprove of the wedding being crashed by Eric Bishoff at the time though. But Bishoff was a bad guy, and what wrestling wedding hasn't had a big reveal or violent storyline come out of it.

One of Vince's friends and a long time booker for the company, Pat Patterson, is openly gay... though his sexuality was never discussed as part of his on screen character.

They've made fun of God on the program many times... or at least fanatical Christianity. (This has offended me because I'm a Christian, but am just pointing it out)

They have slyly indicated support for things such as legalizing marijuana.

They ran an angle for over a year with a villain staple the "RTC" which was meant to make fun of the conservative censorship organization the "PTC"

That being said, the McMahons are filthy rich, and Vince loves money more than anything in the world... so of course he is a republican. He's also reported to not be a very nice person. He'd stab anyone in the back, even his own father (which he did), in order to make money.

But nice or not, and conservative or not, he'd also fall into the category of creative genius... up there with legendary promotional minds like Disney and PT Barnum. That can spell trouble for Chris Dodd.

[Metric System]

6. Meet Linda's husband:

Classy!

[musicblind]

24. Hahahahaha

You just have to laugh cause its true lol.

That really is her husband... and, well, I think I was saying something in a message above about his willingness to do anything for a buck


But I do admire the guts it takes to be 60 years old and show your ass on national television.

[Mopar151]

8. Remember, too - how good WWE is at media

And finding 37 ways to sell utter bullshit!

Not to disrespect the talent in the ring, or backstage (You try improv theatre with a guy named Booger stompin' on your head!). The McMahons have a flair for pitching to the lowest common denominator, and they can keep the soap opera interesting enough to keep the rest of us watching.

[PresidentObama]

9. The worst mistake anyone could take is taking her lightly.

I doubt she'll make it through the Republican primary, Simmons is strong in polls.

But if she does, she's very business savvy and a smooth talker. Don't take her involvement in a wrestling business lightly, the WWE is a very successful global entertainment company. She's been behind many of WWE's successful P.R. campaigns like the kids literacy thing they do, the annual Iraq wrestling event for the troops, and the non-partisan SmackDown Your Vote! campaign to get young people to vote.

Plus she'll have money on her side.

[JMMendez1989]

14. Liberal Republican

As a WWE Fan I have to admit I am intrigued, but her husband is a staunch conservative, most likely due to his wealth, but she's always been a Liberal Republican so she can do well. I think she is a nice lady with well intentions and a good heart, she just has very different views than the left so its kind of a split idea for me. I pity the personal attacks most likely coming to her, but its politics folks.

[Jennicut]

17. It IS CT. There are not many Repubs here that are not liberal/moderate ones.

But she would be a total corpratist. I have followed WWE since I was a kid and its all about the dollars with them. Steroid abuse, mental problems, drug use, severe injuries....who cares? As long as the wrestlers show up for the next show.

[JMMendez1989]

18. true

Thats true, I am still a huge fan, but I have never liked the way they treat their talent. On the plus side, their new competitor TNA is more fair, but WWE seems to be more of my liking. I wish they had a Union, just as long as the rules were fair to make sure the top talent don't get buried due to unfair rules.

[Jennicut]

19. Chris Benoit. Owen Hart. Eddie Guerrero. I know they were all adults and responsible

for their own lives but Vince did nothing to help and in many ways just ignored the abuse of steroids and drugs. And with Owen, he could have stopped the show. I used to watch all the time, especially around 1999-2003. I did like it but there has been a lot out there that would not make Linda or Vince look too good. Dodd is unpopular in CT right now but this unpopular?

[JMMendez1989]

20. Good Point

I guess you do make a good point, but maybe cuz I'm stupid or maybe because I love it too much I will probably keep watching. It has been getting a little repetitive though, and TNA is so much better in terms of the way they treat their talent. Either way good point and I will keep that in my head.

[Jennicut]

21. I watch on occasion..I support the wrestlers. Its a tough business.

[musicblind]

25. Wrestling Union!!!!!

That's exactly what they need. I've been saying it for a long time. Actors have Unions, why not wrestlers? They are actors who take hard knocks for a living. They deserve a lot more respect, in my opinion, then they are given by the management of wrestling promotions (not just WWE).

Sadly, with the monopoly WWE has (and lets face it... TNA cannot compete with them... and thats coming from a TNA fan who buys the TNA ppv each month) wrestling unions would take an act of congress to pass.

[Cha]

27. The personal attacks coming to her in the repub primary?

Yeah, those repubs have nothing so they smear.

[JMMendez1989]

29. yes

the republican primary will use her time on TV and what her family does to attack her, and yeah you are right, Republicans won the 1988, 2000, and 2004 presidental elections by smearing. In 2008 they tried the same thing but it didn't work.

[Cha]

30. Welcome to DU, JMMendez~

We're a fun group.

[tsuki]

10. Keep the folding chairs bolted to the floor. nt

[musicblind]

26. ROTFL

I wish I could rec this post. That's classic

[Yavin4]

15. Wow, We Are Getting Really, Really Close to "Idiocracy"

President Camacho anyone?

[Armstead]

16. LOL.....Or cry....Not sure which