The Best Money Can Buy?

Rep. Chris Murphy & Linda McMahon

It's a good thing Connecticut isn't a swing state in the presidential race.     We already are being bombarded by political ads in the U.S. Senate race between Representative Chris Murphy and WWE CEO Linda McMahon.   Last Friday I saw Chris Murphy at a campaign stop in Colchester.   The audience posed very thoughtful questions and I thought Murphy gave some reasonable and specific answers.   I wished the overall tone of the race could be so civil.   While at least one well-funded pro-Murphy PAC has done some serious mud slinging, Murphy's own ads have taken more of a high road.    Linda McMahon has financed her own election bid, presenting a more female-friendly image than her last Senate race.    I don't begrudge her wealth; it can be used for a lot of good.    I'll take her word over her opponent's about being pro-choice on abortion, but I don't believe for a minute McMahon would have any effective voice on that issue amid a national Republican party that is so dominated by the far right.    Some of her statements on job creation, energy policy and deficit reduction are full of - as George W. Bush put it - "fuzzy math" talking points big on cuts and short on revenue that VP Joe Biden rightly called into question last week.    The attacks on Murphy's personal finances from 2003 and the endless negative ads only serve to bring the discourse deeper into mud and Connecticut voters lose.   By financing herself, McMahon could have changed the attack ad strategy.    Instead, she made it worse.