There is a lot in the press about Linda McMahon the last couple days. McMahon’s campaign has, relative to what one can meaningfully spend on a statewide political campaign in Connecticut (about five million dollars will do the job, and its maybe eight million dollars tops), an unlimited amount of money. Her fortune comes from the family business, the very definition of stage-managed storytelling media companies, World Wrestling Entertainment. People tend to go with what they know and, sure enough, McMahon’s pursuit of the Senate seat vacated by Chris Dodd is a tightly controlled marketing campaign, with the star act’s every move – and everything in her vicinity – meticulously attended to by her handlers.

But McMahon and her campaign are not escaping scrutiny. From the cutting edge of online local media right here in Connecticut, to the original innovator that brought us the 24-hour news cycle, Linda2010 is generating controversy.

Start with the local: Valley Independent Sentinel reporter Joe Cole attempted to ask McMahon a coupla questions at a public appearance in Seymour last week, and McMahon “press wrangler” Suzan Bibisi reportedly shut it down. The campaign followed up with a boiler-plate email response to the reporter’s question; followed by a ham-handed attempt to intimidate the local guys with a press release, quoted in a report by veteran investigative journalist Paul Bass of the New Haven Independent:

“Valley Independent Sentinel Report Involved in Head-On Collision with Reality, the Facts,” the release’s headline read.
“The Valley Independent Sentinel’s claim is demonstrably false, contradicted by scores of interviews Linda has given, including more than a dozen hour-long interviews with reporters and editorial boards nationally and in Connecticut,” the release stated, listing selected interviews her campaign has arranged.

The skinny: Gilded Senate Campaign – 0, Gritty Local Reporters – 2.

Then, CNN‘s Anderson Cooper 360 launched its new series on campaign spending – Cost of Entry – with an expose’ on none other than Linda McMahon. Have a peek:

The, uh, money quote:

The Center for Responsive Politics says 40 out of 51 Congressional candidates that spent half a million dollars or more on their 2008 campaigns lost, or quit. Proof, perhaps, that even the richest person in the world needs a message voters believe, not just a good act.

Meanwhile, note that former CT02 Congressman and contender for the GOP nomination Rob Simmons got some nice “earned media” in the CNN piece.
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