World Wrestling Entertainment held a raucous, reduced-price event yesterday in Connecticut, with attendees encouraged by CEO Vince McMahon to vote on Tuesday, and to wear their WWE merchandise when they do so. And of course, this officially was not any kind of corporate promotion of Republican Senate nominee Linda McMahon, the former WWE CEO and Vince’s wife and business partner.
The New Haven Independent reports:
Vince McMahon stepped into the ring after the divas departed. “You may think I am here to talk politics,” Vince McMahon said, “but nothing could be further from the truth.”
He encouraged WWE fans to vote on Tuesday and to “feel free to wear a WWE T-shirt” to the polls. He also urged them to “Stand up for WWE.” Professional wrestling has been given a bad rap, he said. “We’ve been subject to ridicule by elitists,” he said. Those “elitists” would like to tell people what they should and shouldn’t watch on TV, he said. He asked fans “to stand up for what you want to watch … for what you think is appropriate for your family to watch.”.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Bringing The Smackdown: Linda McMahon’s Campaign For Senate, And Her Colorful Pro-Wrestling Past]
Vince McMahon has previously asked WWE fans to “Stand Up For WWE”, an online campaign responding to political attacks that have been made against the company’s corporate practices and raunchy content. He has also feuded with the Secretary of State’s office over whether fans could wear WWE material at polling places — and once that victory was settled, he announced that the company would hand out merchandise near polling stations.
The TPM Poll Average gives Democrat Richard Blumenthal a lead of 53.2%-43.4%.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.