Look out, Richard Blumenthal — it’s Mr. McMahon!
In the Connecticut Senate race, Democrats have relentlessly attacked Republican nominee Linda McMahon for the corporate track record and programming record of World Wrestling Entertainment, the company where she was CEO. Now her husband and business partner, WWE head honcho Vince McMahon, has posted a new video on the WWE’s YouTube account, seeking to mobilize fan support — for the company.
“The United States Senatorial campaign in Connecticut involving my wife, former WWE CEO Linda McMahon, and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, has quite frankly put the spotlight on WWE,” says Vince. “It has resulted in some negative and inaccurate attacks on our company. So, we’re reaching out directly to you, the WWE Universe, our fans, to provide the real facts about WWE.”
Vince adds: “Let’s show the world the power of World Wrestling Entertainment. Let’s stand up for WWE. Thank you.”
Technically, this would probably not qualify as a political communication, as he is not advocating that anyone vote for or against a candidate, or even commenting on the issues in the race. Instead, he is simply a businessman seeking to maintain his company’s image in the face of political attacks — but hey, maybe this could move some votes for Linda, too.
“The United States Senatorial campaign in Connecticut involving my wife, former WWE CEO Linda McMahon, and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, has quite frankly put the spotlight on WWE. It has resulted in some negative and inaccurate attacks on our company. So, we’re reaching out directly to you, the WWE Universe, our fans, to provide the real facts about WWE. And we ask you to join us in responding to these malicious attacks against the company and you, our viewers.
“We’ve initiated a new campaign called ‘Stand Up For WWE.’ We’ll be posting videos regularly on WWE.com, to set the record straight, and we ask you to utilize YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, as well as WWE.com, to correct biased and inaccurate media reports. We encourage you to sign on to WWE’s Facebook page, and upload your videos, your pictures, and your stories on YouTube, voicing your support for WWE.
“Let’s show the world the power of World Wrestling Entertainment. Let’s stand up for WWE. Thank you.”
The TPM Poll Average gives Blumenthal a lead of 51.5%-43.6%.
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.
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