Simmons Ending Connecticut Senate Campaign

How's this for sad irony? An actual decorated Vietnam war hero can't get his party's nomination for Senate in Connecticut while a lying sack of fecal matter like Richard Blumenthal gets his.

Life just isn't fair sometimes.

Former Rep. Rob Simmons has scheduled a campaign announcement for 9 a.m. this morning and multiple Connecticut outlets are reporting he’ll end his campaign for the Republican Senate nomination.

The announcement will follow Simmons defeat for the GOP’s endorsement to run against Democrat Richard Blumenthal.

The Connecticut Mirror reports: ‘Simmons has not notified Republican officials or the GOP’s endorsed candidate, Linda McMahon, of his intentions. He did not answer his cell phone Monday night. ‘He keeps his own counsel these days,’ a former GOP official said. But a source who declined to be identified said that Simmons’ staff was told the campaign was ending, bowing to the difficulties of fighting the best-financed candidate in Connecticut history: McMahon, a co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment who is seeking office for the first time.’

Peter Schiff is still in the campaign for now, but he'll likely withdraw and leave the GOP nod to Linda McMahon. I've very dubious of McMahon but given the choice between her and a lowlife like Blumenthal the choice is easy.

Spin This, Dick

Attempts at damage control are already underway for the disgraced Connecticut Attorney General Richard (Dick) Blumenthal. But there's just no ambiguity here. He says he served in Vietnam and he didn't. Some things you just can't spin, try as hard as you might.

Previewing a campaign event tomorrow, Myers wrote that "Dick has a long record of standing up for veterans. Tomorrow, veterans will be standing up with Dick."

Dick may have a long record, but how will we know those standing up for Dick are actual veterans? Can we get a check of their records, Dick?

Assorted reaction here this morning.

While the Linda McMahon campaign is taking credit for feeding the info to the Times, it's worth noting GOP contender Rob Simmons actually served in Vietnam.

Rob’s public service career began when he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1965 as a Private, and spent 19 months in Vietnam where he earned two Bronze Star Medals. Rob continued his military service in the U.S. Army Reserve as a Military Intelligence Officer, retiring as a Colonel in 2003 with over 37 years of active and reserve service.

He is past commander of the 434th Military Intelligence (MI) Detachment New Haven, CT, which won the Reserve Officers Association’s Outstanding Small Unit Award in 1996. In 1998, Rob was recognized by for his contributions to the Military Intelligence Corps with the Knowlton Award for "Integrity, Moral Character, Professional Competence and Selflessness.”

Replacement candidates for Blumenthal are already being mentioned.

A New York Times report Monday night that Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had lied about serving in Vietnam had pundits and pollsters across the nation speculating about the impact that it will have on an already tough mid-season election for Democrats.

Speculation immediately turned to Northwest Connecticut’s local congressman, 5th District U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, as a possible “replacement” candidate should this revelation be a death blow for the Blumenthal campaign.

An organization called Public Policy Polling tested Murphy against potential Republican nominees Linda McMahon and Rob Simmons in early January. He led both by 7 points, but the organization said the poll basically functioned as “generic Democrat” against McMahon or Simmons since Murphy has “low name recognition” statewide.

Connecticut Senate Race Set to Become Clown Show

Memo to the Conencticut GOP: Put the kibosh on this one right now. While the obvious goal is to rid us of the odious and corrupt Christopher Dodd, the last thing you need is to have a woman with a cattle car of baggage such as Linda McMahon, who as recently as 2006 was giving money to Democrats. If she's anything like her husband you need to distance yourselves as fast as possible.

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) CEO Linda McMahon appears primed to run for Senate in Connecticut and should make an announcement very soon, according to sources with knowledge of her deliberations.

“A decision is imminent, and she will likely make a decision over the next couple of days,” said a Republican strategist. “It will be made sooner rather than later.”

One well-placed source said McMahon is “99 percent” in. Another said the announcement could come as early as Wednesday.

The second source noted that she has done polling on the race and hired consultants Mike Slanker and Patrick Sullivan. She has also brought on former National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Ed Patru to help with early communications.

Patru said McMahon hasn’t made a decision yet.

“She is taking into consideration a number of factors, including resources and the time commitment it would take to win,” he said. “She plays to win, so if she gets in, she’s in all the way. She has the capacity to bring considerable resources to the race, and she has an established record.”

McMahon, the wife of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, would throw a big wrench into the race against Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) simply by virtue of her ability to spend potentially tens of millions of dollars of her own money on the race.

The absolute last thing the GOP needs is to have some political neophyte buy herself a nomination and then watch the media and Dodd pose this basic question to her: Why do so many of your employees drop dead at such a young age after rampant steroid abuse?

Is this an image the GOP needs? If that's not enough, consider this:

No stranger to Connecticut Republican politics, McMahon has been an active supporter of GOP causes and politicians. But she has also given to Democrats over the years, including to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in 2006 when it knocked off two Connecticut Republicans in the House.

Sounds like a committed Republican, no?

Simmons Increases Lead Over Dodd

A primary target for the GOP next year trails badly in a new poll released today. Oh, how sweet it would be to see this corrupt hack sent into retirement.

Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a likely Republican challenger 48 - 39 percent in the 2010 Senate race, but he is inching up in his job approval to a negative 42 - 52 percent approval rating, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

The matchup compares to a 45 - 39 percent Simmons lead in a May 27 poll by the independent Quinnipiac University.

In this latest survey, Simmons leads 87 - 7 percent among Republicans and 56 - 27 percent among independent voters, while Sen. Dodd takes Democrats 74 - 16 percent. The incumbent has gained among Democrats, but lost independent support since May 27.

Dodd's negative 42 - 52 percent approval compares to 38 - 53 percent May 27 and this was up from a negative 33 - 58 percent April 2.

Simmons dominates a Republican primary matchup with 42 percent, while no other Republican tops 5 percent, with 45 percent undecided.

Dodd leads businessman Merrick Alpert 52 - 18 percent in a Democratic primary.

"Sen. Christopher Dodd is rebuilding his approval rating, but he is still in negative territory. He has moved the needle from 25 points down April 2 to 10 points down today. He still is losing to Rob Simmons," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD.

The Quinnipiac poll also shows Barack Obama's approval slipping eight points, although he still has a 61% favorable rating, far superior to Dodd.

Another Challenger for Chris Dodd?

Poll results released today show Libertarian businessman Peter Schiff has a realistic shot at unseating corrupt Connecticut Democrat Chris Dodd as his numbers stack up well against Dodd as well as potential GOP challenger Rob Simmons. For a man with far less name recognition that the other two, Schiff polls surprisingly well, trailing Dodd by only four points, within the margin of error.

Simmons, meanwhile, holds a nine-point edge over Dodd with 15% undecided.

Without question, a poll within the margin of error against a virtual unknown is very bad news for Dodd.

More here.

Some background on Schiff. While I'm not crazy about his Ron Paul links, he's far more preferable than Dodd.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Desperate DSCC Unleashes Attack Ad on Dodd Challenger

Think the Democrats aren't worried about Chris Dodd's Senate seat?

Well, considering Republican Rob Simmons is already crushing Chris Dodd in the polls, they've already unleashed their first attack ad against Simmons.

Pretty weak.



Paid for by the DSCC, which still apparently hasn't returned Bernie Madoff's contributions. Savor the irony of defending Chris Dodd with some Bernie Madoff money. Can it get any sweeter?

Here he is on with Sean Hannity tonight. Seems like a standup guy. Considering how sleazy Dodd is, any mud thrown at this guy should slide right off.



At the end he advises viewers to visit robsimmons.com.

He might want to check that one.

The .net and .org variations don't prove any better.

From all indications Simmons appears to be a RINO, no surprise given we're dealing with Connecticut, but he certainly appears to be a decent human being, unlike Dodd.

He should definitely look into improving that web presence (hint: I come cheap) and gird his loins for a nonstop 21-month onslaught that is surely headed his way. The Democrat hate machine is heading his way.

I wonder if he's ever listened to Rush Limbaugh?