CONNECTICUT SLAPDOWN – AT 8:32 P.M. ET:  Incredible, but the U.S. Senate race in Connecticut, a solidly blue state, has turned very competitive. 

After enduring months of ridicule over her background in the high sport of professional wrestling, GOP candidate Linda McMahon is breathing down the neck of Dem candidate Richard Blumenthal, the state attorney general.  Is McMahon the new Scott Brown?  From The Politico:

Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Richard Blumenthal are virtually tied in the Connecticut Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.

McMahon trails Blumenthal, 46 percent to 49 percent — a 3-point difference that is within the poll’s margin of error. Only 4 percent of voters surveyed reported they were still undecided.

Blumenthal was considered a shoo-in for the open Connecticut Senate race earlier this year because of his high marks from voters as the state’s five-term attorney general. Blumenthal still has a high approval rating — 68 percent in the poll — but he is quickly losing ground in the Senate contest to the wealthy political newcomer.

A similar Quinnipiac University poll released two weeks ago showed Blumenthal with a 6-point lead, 51 percent to 45 percent, over McMahon.

"With five weeks to go, the Connecticut Senate race is very close. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is ahead by only a statistically insignificant 3 points,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz. “Blumenthal has to be concerned about Linda McMahon's momentum. He can hear her footsteps as she closes in on him.”

COMMENT:  We'll wait for some confirming polls before breaking out in a smile, but if the Connecticut seat being vacated by Chris Dodd can be taken by the GOP, it will have the same political impact as Scott Brown's taking the Kennedy seat in Massachusetts.  It's still uphill for Linda, but her background as an executive of the World Wrestling Federation seems to be coming in handy.  She's a fighter.

September 28, 2010