Breaking News: WWE's CEO McMahon Resigns to Pursue Run for U.S. Senate

The Chief Executive Officer of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Linda McMahon resigned in order to run for the U.S. Senate seat from Connecticut currently held by the astoundingly corrupt Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT). I'm no fan of fake TV wrestling and would normally dismiss this as a joke. However, a closer look yields a different result. While on the surface her company is TV wrestling, it is actually much more. She and her husband Vince developed the company from just being TV wrestling to a global entertainment powerhouse that makes movies and is selling hundreds of millions of dollars of merchandise annually. WWE has been a strong company despite the economic turmoil of the last year. They return value to their investors with a consistent dividend.

I wish her luck as it is never easy unseating an incumbent. Dodd's shady dealings with Countrywide and other various ethical problems make him appear vulnerable, but he is still a several term incumbent and Democrats in the northeast have shown themselves to be awfully forgiving of misbehavior (remember Ted Kennedy was reelected 7 times after Chappaquidick). Separately, just because she is running as a Republican, don't assume that means she is conservative since the two words are not interchangeable. Her past financial contributions to candidates reflect that she has donated almost equally to Democrats and Republicans. Interestingly, she donated to former congressman and current White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's campaigns multiple times.

2010 Mid-Term Senate Race - Connecticut

Over the next year or so I'll do updates on the 2010 mid-term elections. Most of the updates will be of senate races though a few key or surprising house races may get some attention.

The first, surprisingly concerns a long time incumbent - Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Normally, senate incumbent are safe particularly in states that consistently vote for the incumbent's political party. Such is the case with Sen. Dodd. Next year he will be finishing his fifth full term in the senate representing a state that has fairly reliably voted Democrat. However, Sen. Dodd has been under a major ethical cloud over the past year and now appears particularly vulnerable.

Exacerbating Dodd's problems is that his perceived ethical lapses are easily connected to our current economic troubles. As the mortgage industry was falling apart creating a headache for the entire credit market, it was revealed that Dodd received a special, below market rate, mortgage from Countrywide Financial. Even if one was inclined to give Dodd the benefit of doubt (which I'm not) it is hard to imagine the powerful Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee receiving a special loan as anything but a serious conflict of interest if not tantamount to a bribe. That is just the tip of the iceberg of troubles for Dodd. Last week he looked and acted guilty in the back and forth over who modified the "Stimulus" bill to ensure the AIG executives received bonuses. That was quickly used in commercials harping on the fact that Dodd and President Obama were the largest recipients of AIG campaign donations. Here is a link to an article detailing some of his other scandals including a shady deal for a mansion in Ireland.

Current projection: 70% chance for Republican pick up unless Dodd doesn't run for reelection. If Dodd decides not to run again then I'd rate this a safe Dem retention.

Trivia: The last time a "Republican" won a U.S. Senate seat from Connecticut it was after Dodd's father chose not to run for reelection after his own ethical lapses. Hmmm, what's that they say about apples not falling far from trees?

Can you say "Conflict of Interest" boys and girls?

I don't know about you, but the highlighted portion below screams obvious conflict of interest to me. Headline: LOAN SLEAZE SPREADS

Two influential US senators got "VIP" loans from a leading subprime mortgage lender that saved them tens of thousands of dollars, it was reported last night.

The Democratic pols, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota, both received the highly favorable loans under the designation "Friend of Angelo," a reference to embattled Countrywide head Angelo Mozilo, Condé Nast Portfolio reported.

Dodd is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, while Conrad is chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee. The two senators refinanced properties through the VIP program in 2003 and 2004, the report said.

That is as close to an out right bribe as you can get without doing the full Murtha and being taped. The punchline is these disreputable characters will shape the sub-prime "crisis" bailout legislation.

UPDATE: Called my Representative (Boehner) and U.S. Senators (Voinovich and Brown) asking if they will be taking any action to investigate bribery charges. Also, called Countrywide and asked how I could get the special bribery rate. As it stands right now I don't expect to see Senators Dodd and Conrad investigated and I really don't think I'm going to get the special bribery interest rate. Wasn't really expecting much action from any of the calls, but I hope they get enough calls to understand that regular folks (ie: taxpayers) are disgusted with business as usual in D.C.