Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

McMahon embraced by Tea Party

  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • September 1, 2010
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

SOUTHINGTON — The Tea Party may have preferred to see the full-throated, anti-government zeal of Peter Schiff in the U.S. Senate, but its adherents demonstrated Tuesday night they will accept Linda McMahon’s milder brand of conservatism.

McMahon headlined a fundraiser for Tea Party organizer and Republican state Senate candidate Joe Markley, drawing a standing-room crowd of 200 people who applauded a speech devoid of the fiery attacks on Washington that are a staple of many Tea Party events.

Unlike Schiff, who promised to heave a wrench into the machinery of Congress, McMahon described herself as a conciliator who wants to reach across party lines and make Washington work, not exactly Tea Party dogma.

No matter. The audience applauded, then lined up for pictures.

McMahon

GOP Senate candidate Linda McMahon found a warm welcome Tuesday. (Mark Pazniokas)

“She’s a freakin’ rock star,” said Mark Boughton, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor.

Boughton was one of three Republicans on the statewide ticket who showed up. The others were Martha Dean, the nominee for attorney general, and Jeffrey Wright, the nominee for treasurer.

In McMahon, the conservatives see a well-funded Republican nominee in a position to do what no Republican has done in Connecticut since Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 1982: Win a seat in the U.S. Senate. And this year, that is enough.

“In Connecticut, we have two choices, Dick Blumenthal and Linda McMahon,” said Tom Scott, a conservative activist and former state senator. “And on the big issues, she is on our side.”

Scott, who led the opposition to the income tax Weicker pushed through as governor in 1991, organizing a rally that drew a crowd of more than 40,000 to the State Capitol, said McMahon is the potential 51st Republican vote in the Senate.

“There is a realization among a lot of the folks who are not establishment Republicans that, at a minimum, we need a rear-guard action,” Scott said. “We need to stop the bad stuff, and that’s why I am embracing her candidacy.”

Unlike many in the Tea Party movement, McMahon favors gay rights and a women’s right to an abortion. But even self-described social-conservatives like Neal Welch of Cheshire said social issues are “very secondary” this year.

“If we don’t control the House or the Senate or, hopefully both, there will be so much damage done in the following two years, we’ll never recover,” Welch said. “We’ll be so buried in debt. We’ll be so weak in foreign policy. It has to happen now.”

Markley backed Schiff in the Aug. 10 primary for U.S. Senate. Like many in the movement, he preferred Schiff’s more muscular and provocative style of free-market, small-government politics.

And he also had trouble with McMahon’s friendship with Weicker, who sits on the board of World Wrestling Entertainment, the company she co-founded with her husband, Vince McMahon.

But he came around after the primary, when the choice was McMahon or the Democratic attorney general, Richard Blumenthal.

“The gulf between McMahon and Blumenthal is enormous, and she obviously has a tremendous opportunity to win this seat,” Markley said.

Still, Markley said with a smile, “I keep taking my own pulse to see if I’m selling out yet.”

Markley mentioned his initial skepticism in his introduction of McMahon, but he said she met his requirements as a candidate who believes in fiscal responsibility, free enterprise and personal liberty.

“This turnout shows the kind of excitement she has generated,” Markley said. “I am proud to support her. I support her 100 percent.”

McMahon offered only vague objections to “big government.” She listed no specifics about what she would cut, nor does she see the election as about her.

“I really do believe this election in November is a referendum on Washington and the things that are happening in Washington,” McMahon said.

Unlike Schiff, who questioned the propriety of the federal government offering social welfare programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, McMahon shuns a discussion of the entitlements that consume 40 percent of the federal budget, saying they are not a topic for campaigns.

Her first big applause line Tuesday was the mere mention she has no political experience.

“That’s a plus!” someone shouted. “That’s a plus!”

McMahon said her role as the former chief executive officer of WWE is her qualification. She described herself as a dealmaker who crafted business agreements that left all sides happy.

“I think it is that kind of an attitude we have to have more of to really bring people together, to talk with open debate, to push our country forward,” she said. “I am hopeful I can bring that aspect to my Senate seat.”

At the prodding an audience member, McMahon talked about her views on foreign policy. She offered little, other than a call for continued vigilance.

“I can tell you we are in tough times,” she said. “We have Iran, where we have, you know, Ahmadinejad, who I think really is, he is a rogue at best. And clearly, he is set on the destruction of Israel. He certainly set on developing nuclear weapons, I think under the guise of nuclear energy. But we have to really keep an eye on that situation.”

She was applauded for saying no options should be taken off the table in dealing with Iran.

McMahon was similarly vague on Iraq and Afghanistan. She neither endorsed nor criticized the Obama administration for declaring an end to the U.S. combat mission in Iraq.

“There have been a lot of lives and effort put forth in Iraq,” she said. “I hope that the stabilization forces will be able to do exactly what the program and plan is for them.”

“And Afghanistan, we are re-evaluating I think, you know, we need to re-evaluate where we are on Afghanistan to make sure the strategy that was put in place a couple of years ago is still the right strategy to be there,” she said. “How do we make sure the people of Afghanistan don’t feel that they were abandoned, but at the same time have the proper military and the proper strategy in place?”

She offered no answer to her own question.

No one seemed to mind.

Sam Caligiuri, the Republican nominee for Congress in the 5th District, told her, “You’re a rock star.”

As she paused by the exit, a man leaving stopped to compliment her.

“You’ve got all the right moves, Linda,” he said. Then he corrected himself and said, “Uh, Mrs. McMahon.”

“No,” McMahon said, smiling. “Linda is fine.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Pazniokas

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Connecticut has nearly $1B in new federal relief. Legislators and municipalities want to know how Lamont plans to divvy it up.
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Legislators and municipalities want to know how and when Gov. Ned Lamont will divvy up $1 billion in federal relief.

Sick of ugly politics? Do something to improve them.
by Faith Ham

That collective “Phew” rising up over our fruited plain is the national sigh of relief that the ugly political season of 2020 is one for the books. Not so fast. We are officially in the Year of the Municipal Election.

Connecticut’s building trades need the Killingly energy plant project
by Joe Toner

The 30,000 men and women of the Connecticut State Building Trades unions, were shocked and gravely disappointed by the Gov. Ned Lamont's quotes, “I don’t want to build Killingly” and that the administration could “play some games there,” referring to slowing the permitting process at DEEP.

The vaccination strategy that will save the most lives
by Harry Arora

The important decision our leaders face today is how to prioritize COVID vaccination. In these columns, three weeks ago, I put forward an evidence-based argument that we should give first priority to our seniors, in descending order of age. I proposed that if we use 90% of our vaccine for seniors and 10% for frontline healthcare workers and those with serious medical conditions, we will save 200,000 lives.

Multilingual, multicultural education is a foundational imperative
by Alissa DeJonge

As the calendar has turned to 2021, we cannot help but be reminded of how incredibly intertwined and interdependent we are all across the globe. What is said or done in one geographic location has ramifications far and wide, which underscores the importance of understanding each other and our actions, not only for the harm that can be inflicted inadvertently, but for the good that can be accomplished intentionally.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Connecticut’s building trades need the Killingly energy plant project
by Joe Toner

The 30,000 men and women of the Connecticut State Building Trades unions, were shocked and gravely disappointed by the Gov. Ned Lamont's quotes, “I don’t want to build Killingly” and that the administration could “play some games there,” referring to slowing the permitting process at DEEP.

Opinion Sick of ugly politics? Do something to improve them.
by Faith Ham

That collective “Phew” rising up over our fruited plain is the national sigh of relief that the ugly political season of 2020 is one for the books. Not so fast. We are officially in the Year of the Municipal Election.

Opinion The vaccination strategy that will save the most lives
by Harry Arora

The important decision our leaders face today is how to prioritize COVID vaccination. In these columns, three weeks ago, I put forward an evidence-based argument that we should give first priority to our seniors, in descending order of age. I proposed that if we use 90% of our vaccine for seniors and 10% for frontline healthcare workers and those with serious medical conditions, we will save 200,000 lives.

Opinion Multilingual, multicultural education is a foundational imperative
by Alissa DeJonge

As the calendar has turned to 2021, we cannot help but be reminded of how incredibly intertwined and interdependent we are all across the globe. What is said or done in one geographic location has ramifications far and wide, which underscores the importance of understanding each other and our actions, not only for the harm that can be inflicted inadvertently, but for the good that can be accomplished intentionally.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO