It's been a long time since I called in to the Northern Alliance, but Brian and John's discussion of the Connecticut Senate race precipitated a call from me to discuss the peculiarities of two of the candidates on the Republican side.
When Brian brought up the fact that World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon was leading in the polls for the Republican nomination, I felt the need to reminisce about McMahon's on screen role in the WWE.
I jokingly suggested that the fact that she had appeared on TV in a "drugged and wheelchair bound" state may be used against her. I didn't have time to discuss the fact that her involvement in an industry that has been known for pushing steroid use would certainly be used against her. Nor was I aware that she is accused of "tipping off" a physician and WWE (then called the WWF) employee about a Justice Department investigation into steroid distribution.
McMahon is clearly a smart businesswoman. Over the last 30 years, she and her husband changed a schlocky regional wrestling league into a sports entertainment powerhouse. I don't pretend to know how the Connecticut voter will react to steroid allegations.
After discussing McMahon, we moved on to my favorite Senatorial candidate in some time, Euro Pacific Capital CEO Peter Schiff. Schiff is a serious financial scholar, who believes that America is in serious financial trouble. He produces a weekly 10-minute youtube video called "The Schiff Report," where he analyzes stock market performance and makes predictions. Overall, his projections are bearish.
Schiff is smart enough to crunch all sorts of financial algorithms, but plain spoken enough to get his point across to people who don't have an MBA in finance. He believes that the government spends too much money, borrows too much, and that the Federal Reserve acts irresponsibly. He believes that the stock market will be down for a long time, that inflation will accelerate, and that America faces an uncertain future. Not surprisingly, voters don't want to hear this and he trails in the polls.
The likely beneficiary from the eccentricies of McMahon and Schiff may be Rob Simmons, a former Congressman and Colonel in the US Army. Sure, he hasn't published any books about the impending stock market crash or his anyone over the head with a chair, but he is a solid conservative voice.
