Rasmussen finds former GOP Congressman Rob Simmons is still Dodd's toughest opponent,
leading Dodd by 13% -- 48% to 35%.
The newest candidate in the race, Linda McMahon -- the ex-CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, also leads Dodd 44% to 38%. But Dodd is now so unpopular, even "long-shot" candidate Peter Shiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, leads Dodd -- 40% to 39%.
What is most notable about the Rasmussen poll is McMahon’s high disapproval rating. More voters have a very unfavorable opinion of McMahon. While Simmons is seen very favorably by 12% and very unfavorably by 8%, McMahon's very favorables total 14% and her very unfavorables are 17%. These findings comes on the heels of McMahon’s expensive promotional advertising campaign conducted in the absence of any other candidate advertising. Rasmussen considers the number of people with strong opinions more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers "at this point in a campaign."
This is a big problem for McMahon and evidence that a major block of voters is already predisposed against her. The recent string of negative news stories about her will only feed that sentiment.
Amanda Carpenter reports that under McMahon's tenure, the WWE signed porn actresses, such as Jillian Beyor and Candice Michelle, and featured other "divas" like Torrie Wilson in sexy WWE scenarios. During one match, available on YouTube, Miss Wilson strips off her skimpy bikini to reveal an even skimpier, nude-toned bikini and caresses and kisses another female wrestler.In addition to its porn star divas, the WWE now targets 6-14 year olds in a youth initiative, which offers youngsters "age-appropriate content." The initiative is so successful it reaches more than 2.6 million young fans each week.
Matt Lewis reports that some Dodd loyalists believe a McMahon nomination may be the key to Dodd's salvation:
Dodd and the Democrats would try to use her involvement in the seedy business of pro-wrestling against her ... In addition, it is likely that some social conservatives who would be turned off by McMahon – and decide stay home in a general election.
According to Erika Lovley at Politico, an angry group of famous pro wrestlers who once worked for McMahon are now attacking her:
The fact that we were out there experiencing trauma and drawing in untold millions for the company [means] we should have at least had some sort of health insurance.Lorie Byrd covered the attacks from high profile, successful former members of the WWE, an organization McMahon led but does not mention by name in her campaign ads or brochures:
[. . .]The issue is of no small concern for the former athletes, a number of whom are battling debilitating injuries or ailments related to their careers in the ring. As independent contractors, pro wrestlers are not offered health insurance or pensions from WWE, according to several of the former stars and industry experts.
A week ago, Jesse Ventura spoke out against the WWE calling it "a joke" and "still in the stone age" due to pro wrestlers not having any form of organized union protection.The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which landed in hot water for endorsing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for 2010 over former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, and seeming to back Carly Fiorina over Chuck Devore in California, has not endorsed anyone in the Connecticut race.Last week, in a Miami Herald report about his autobiography, Bruno Sammartino strongly criticized the organization Linda McMahon led on various grounds including the rising use of drugs, vulgarity and scantily clad women.
But, McMahon is meeting with GOP leaders in Washington, D.C., this week. McMahon claims the meetings are not intended to seek endorsements, but after the Crist and Fiorina episodes one has to wonder.
Perhaps some of McMahon's past political behavior and positions will dissuade the NRSC from pulling another Crist or Fiorina with McMahon:
- In 2006, McMahon donated money to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, when it defeated two Connecticut Republican congressmen.
- McMahon told the Washington Post's The Fix, she would have supported the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and didn't have a clear answer on whether she would have voted for the Bush tax cuts.
- Asked about the Obama Administration's decision to try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad in a New York federal court rather than a military court in the Gitmo terrorist detention facility, McMahon hedged her bets, noting New York "has certainly tried other terrorists before."
- McMahon would not rule out running as an Independent if she did not get the Republican nomination in remarks before the Connecticut Union of College Republicans, at Fairfield University. McMahon's Spokesperson subsequently said McMahon will stick with the GOP.
On taxcuts, an issue that should be no brainier for any Republican seeking high public office, McMahon failed to even articulate a position. On other important issues, her positions left much to be desired. Hopefully, McMahon's campaign not-ready-for-prime time campaign will be enough to keep the NRSC from endorsing McMahon and let the Connecticut Republican voters pick the nominee to defeat Dodd.
I am an American. So are you. Let’s talk.
I hold no position of authority. I am not possessed of great wealth. I seek no notoriety. I am not funded by any organization or religious denomination. I am not a devotee of “talk radio.” I am neither a racist nor a homophobe nor a misogynist. I have never participated in any political event or as a member of any political party. I am simply an American who, until this moment, has remained silent.
Until now.
I don’t want anything from you. Nothing. I simply want to communicate with you, one citizen to another, about the peril we face as Americans. My statement to you is this: Our nation is being ripped to shreds from within and it is no accident…
At the end of the war in Vietnam, a group of highly-motivated, well-organized radicals (largely based at several renowned universities) proclaimed its agenda for the future. Their mission was far-reaching: they would infiltrate and occupy all of the major institutions of the nation and remake America into a socialist state.
I was there. I went to their rallies. I felt their rage. I heard their speeches. I read their literature. They meant every word of their declaration to “change” America. Forty years on, they’re close to keeping their promise. They were the vanguard of a movement that has now taken captive our government, our media, our schools and our legal system.
This is a group of people so extremely far from the mainstream of America that I can hardly describe them, except to say that they are driven by a deep-seeded anger, a rage, and a hatred of America that only a psychiatrist could explain. Their most effective allies have been our apathy, our ignorance and our sense of helplessness. Make no mistake: they are exceptionally well-funded, well-organized and highly, highly motivated…and you know them by their actions. Labels are unnecessary.
In the past forty years, they have given us the brainwashing of “political correctness.” They have imposed “multiculturalism and diversity” in order to shred both our national identity and the territorial sovereignty of the country: our borders are intentionally porous. They have, by design, enacted legislation that has wrought havoc upon the family. They have created a welfare state that has ensnared the American black on a scale far worse than the evil of slavery. They have destroyed public education and replaced it with a program of social indoctrination and cultural engineering. They have created a cult of “victimization” – pitting citizen against citizen and family against family. They have undermined every effort to defend the nation at home and abroad. They have invented the “global climatic crisis” in an effort to destroy capitalism. They have attempted to vilify our founding fathers as racist imperialists and have demonized all that has been “America” ever since our Declaration of Independence was first pronounced.
They have enlisted the money and resources of the media in their cause—and the wealthy, witless jesters from Hollywood and the New York media have gladly danced along. They have made religion the source of scorn and ridicule. They have purposely confused “tolerance” with “endorsement” and have built a society where the bizarre and grotesque are presented as normal. They have entrenched the slaughter of unborn children as an article of their faith. They have created a culture where parents are afraid to discipline their own children. They have stolen our tax dollars to purchase the votes of the ill-educated and unfortunate among us, to say nothing of the illegal immigrant population. They have attempted to strip citizens of their arms. They have tried to re-write and misinterpret the Constitution; a document that was designed to limit—not enhance—the power of government.
Most insidiously, they have implemented an Orwellian “new speak” which has turned wrong into right and right into wrong.
I ask you, are we truly a “nation?” We are not if we do not share common faith, culture and language, worship the same God, revere the same heroes, cherish the same history, celebrate the same holidays and share the same music, poetry, art and literature?
In other words if “diversity” reigns, then “unity” dies.
In other words, “divide and conquer.”
In other words, their goal is to divide us and subjugate us in a totalitarian state where our freedoms are denied, our individuality is stripped and our personal liberties are extinguished. Whether you like it or not…whether you choose to believe it or not…they’re close to achieving that goal.
Now, they want to fully socialize our medical system, to “nationalize” every major private institution in our economy, to destroy small business, to impose a crushing tax burden upon people who actually work. Ultimately, they seek to obliterate our sovereignty and enslave every citizen to the will of the state.
Want a glimpse of your immediate future? Take a look at California, New York and Michigan. All bankrupt. Civil services and economies in ruin; anarchy standing at the gate.
Perhaps you ask “Why?” our enemies have undertaken this campaign against us. The answer is simple: They condescendingly believe themselves intellectually and morally superior and they want to control us. More than that, they simply hate America.
True patriots must now arise and fight back because our liberty and our very existence as an American people are at stake. Simply rationalizing that the destruction of our nation “could never happen” is the first step toward enslavement.
We can begin to reclaim America by reading our Constitution. People have died to protect our right to do so. But if that task is too burdensome, try reading the first ten Amendments, our Bill of Rights: it will amaze and astonish you. Then, absorb as much as we can from others. Read and listen to all points of view and think critically and independently. For God’s sake (and ours) talk to one another: pick up the phone, write a letter, access the Internet, stand on your roof and shout! Champion liberty and freedom and all that once made America great. Proclaim the inherent greatness of the United States. More than any other weapon, our brains will protect us if only we use them.
After that, take action and VOTE. Until our totalitarian enemies strip us of that right, we can exercise our right to choose our leaders (who are, in fact, our servants.) Government is supposed to work for us, not the reverse.
Finally, if all else fails, remember Thomas Jefferson said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. So, allow yourself to think the unthinkable and be mentally and physically and spiritually prepared to answer the call when it comes. Hundreds of thousands of patriots have done so before us. Can we do any less today? I think not.
Buy a gun, learn how to use it.
If, as I believe, we stand at the precipice of a Second American Revolution, then let it begin here and now with you and me. Now is the time to declare that we truly stand in defense of our nation, our country and our Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
May God in heaven bless the United States of America, but it is now up to us to rise and defend her.
I call you to action!
Posted by: Jonathan Bruce | Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 05:46 PM