The battle for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Joe Lieberman is shaping up to be very similar to the fight we saw in 2010. Once again, a former congressman who was voted out of office, is going to head to head with Linda McMahon, the former CEO of the WWE. This time it is Christopher Shays, who represented CT-4 for 11 terms, but he is getting advice from Rob Simmons, who knows a thing or two about running against McMahon.
During a taping of Face the State for his first extensive television interview since announcing his candidacy, Shays talked about the lessons he learned from Simmons’ losses to McMahon at the GOP convention and in the primary. Shays told me he expects to win, but if he doesn’t, his support of McMahon, should she be the nominee, is dependent on her actions. Shays said she must run an honest and fair race.
“If she attempts to do to me what she did to Rob Simmons, good luck. What she did to Rob Simmons was outrageous.”
Shays went on to explain what he believed were “outrageous” actions by the McMahon campaign. He was also critical of McMahon’s spending in the ’10 campaign, calling it “reckless.”
“50 million dollars just thrown away. That’s reckless. If you are going to spend money that way, how are you going to spend the taxpayers’ money?”
I also asked Shays if he would run as an independent, what he thinks of Democrats’ claim that he is a “carpetbagger,” and what kind of money he needs to raise to run an effective campaign.
Here is the interview from Sunday: : http://www.wfsb.com/video?clipId=6357732&flvUri=&partnerclipid=&topVideoCatNo=221670&c=&autoStart=true&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage&clipFormat=flv
part 2:
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Dennis House blog 
Shays should run as a Democrat. He might give Chris Murphy a run for his money. Maybe conserervative Democrats will return to Connecticut before conservative Republicans can find a life in the CT GOP.
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Love your wonderfully informative program. Sometimes, some of the hosts seem to be coached on their guests…like with the governor. However, your interview with Chris Shays says it all… He never answered a single question as asked by you. as far as he and Rob Simmons are concerned, out of sight, out of mind would be best. We are not so stupid as to reccognize politicians words are empty without action. They both did more talking than acting. Also, he was incorrect about Mr. Simmon’s saving of the base. He showed up for the meetings but, had no clout in Washington to get the funds or the decision to keep it open. That was done by the Ct Coalition and Rep.Courtney.
Kodos to you for coninuing the fight for what’s right.
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Shays seems like the only viable GOP candidate in CT… how could the Republicans be silly enough to nominate Linda McMahon again, after she spent $50 million to lose the general election last time?? If McMahon couldn’t beat Blumenthal, how will she beat Murphy? If the GOP wants a fighting chance, they need to nominate Shays. He’s also the most representative of the Connecticut constituency.
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