I think this is goods news for someone, and it's NOT John McCain. Richard Blumenthal should weather this fake-ass controversy and when reality comes into play for voters, he will stomp Linda McMahon. This is another case of the Teabag Wing pulling the GOP too far to the right.Political pop quiz: You are the Connecticut Republican Party, the nation's richest state and a solid Democratic stronghold. Your Democratic opponent has been busted (fairly or not) for lying or exaggerating his military service during the Vietnam War. Do you:
- Nominate a decorated Vietnam War vet, retired Colonel, and winner of two Bronze Stars, with a proven track record of winning elections in tough political terrain
- Nominate the teabagger co-founder of the WWE
If you were smart, you'd pick option number one. But the rules said you had to be a Republican...
I know voters in Connecticut have proven themselves to be as fucking stupid as any other state last time they chose a Senator, but at the end of the day, I have to think a popular and effective public servant that had astronomical approval numbers should prevail.
6 comments:
From your lips to FSM's ears, my friend. I have to say, I've seen a few of McMahon's ads, and she doesn't come off as a whackjob. This could be closer than you think.
Does this state have a primary or does the party just pick the candidate? Michigan is just as bad. Feiger got the nomination before and there is polling data from a month ago that suggests he would get it again if he threw his hat in the ring.
I think he was fairly busted. I don't buy the notion that it was an accident or that he mispoke. He is an attorney and should know that you should choose your words carefully. Would it make me not vote for him? I don't know enough about him, so I can't say, but is it really that hard to fucking tell the truth when you speak?
steves, it's not that cut and dried.
Blumenthal has no history of misrepresenting that service at all. Ever. Even the TWO examples cited by the NYT over a period of nine years (which exhaustes most electronic searches) are really open to interpretation and therefore misrepresentation.
I've had a post brewing on this since the day it went down. It was poised to be a D.O.W. award to Blumenthal at first, but he's more or less clear with me, and my ire is directed at the Times, which did an absolute hit piece, and badly at that.
More to come from me on this, maybe.
I thought the two examples seemed pretty clear, but that is the lawyer in me, I suppose. On the other hand, there were other instances where he was honest about his service. In the end, I doubt it would be enough to make me vote for his opponent, unless it was very close. I wonder why no one questioned him on it before.
I'll get specific and even supply links when and if I do a post on this...but in breif:
No one ever asked him about before because it wasn't a pattern. His biography on his site is correct. The local reporters in Hartford who have covered him for years all understood the nature of his service and never heard him attempt to mislead an audience.
In the very same speech that started this whole thing, Blumenthal clearly articulates that he served in the Reserves and never saw action. The NY Times deliberately ignored that context.
The Times was irresponsible and in my opinion less honest than Blumenthal himself.
Blumenthal has always been an excellent AG for CT. The Senate seat was his to lose. After this, the poll I saw put McMahon just a few points behind him.
One thing you didn't mention was the NY Times source for Blumenthal's slip up: the McMahon campaign. Figuring that he was another Spitzer, they went trolling through the archives to find something they could pin on him. If that's the best they can do....
McMahon hasn't courted the teabaggers, at least not that I've seen (FWTW).
She touts her job creation experience as being one of her greatest assets. Last I heard, WWE had 50 employees. Not exactly an earth shattering number.
I would've preferred Peter Schiff as the R nominee as he correctly forecasted the economic collapse. He was ridiculed for his warnings, but he stuck by them and was proven right.
Simmons certainly would've been a better choice than McMahon. He's still on the ballot for the primary but the momentum is in McMahon's favor.
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