Connecticut Republicans get a chance to make history in less than two weeks when some of them remember to turn out for the Tuesday, Aug. 14, U.S. Senate Primary. Republicans can nominate the same old politician or they can nominate a true outsider. The Connecticut GOP, the state and America all need help — so it would be in the party’s, state’s and nation’s best interest to go with an outsider.
Linda McMahon has spend nearly $60 million of her own money over the past three years telling you she is that outsider. And if you check out the recent polls, it’s been working.
Chris Shays has spent most of his life showing you he is that actual outsider who can get things accomplished, unite parties while still sticking to his Connecticut Yankee roots of limited government, limited spending and intelligent reasoning over over-reacting. He’s never been the darling of his party for a reason. But that’s what comes with taking stands rather than just trying to be appealing.
Mrs. McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, has run her most recent campaign for U.S. Senate saying she can create jobs in Connecticut. So far she’s spent much of the $10 million (for the 2012 campaign) of her own money creating jobs outside of Connecticut (except, of course, for the paid “volunteers” she’s using here).
Mrs. McMahon says she’s not a Washington politician. And, officially, she is not. But she’s spent nearly $150,000 on big time Washington, D.C., lobbying firms, such as Wiley Rein. She’s also doled out millions of dollars to firms and people in the D.C. area, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Maryland, Texas, Ohio, New York, Missouri, Illinois, Florida, Arizona and Oregon.
She’s spent a lot of money so she can hire people to tell her how to think about certain issues — and to create glossy advertisements and TV commercials so we can all think she has a plan. She is so confident in that plan that she’s had an entirely scripted campaign and rarely lets anyone challenge her positions or ask her questions that she’ll actually answer.
Republicans could look at this as an improvement over when Mrs. McMahon used to spend her money last decade donating to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other Democrat candidates.
While her career has been based on scripts for wrestlers, Mr. Shays’ career has been focusing on the real world.
Republicans in Connecticut, who for years have let bad candidates seek this important seat to lose to Democrats, finally have a chance to have a good candidate who could win in November. And they could send a message to the rest of the nation: Connecticut is still about substance and leadership. It’s time for the Connecticut GOP to stop encouraging unaffiliated voters to vote for Democrats.
A vote by Republicans for Linda McMahon on Aug. 14 is the same as a vote for Democrat Chris Murphy to be the Nutmeg State’s junior senator for a generation. A vote for Chris Shays is a vote for a Republican Party that wants to win here and lead Connecticut — not just play every couple years.
