Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd who has been ignoring the handwriting on the wall for better than a year now, finally came to his senses and announced today that he won't seek another term in the US Senate. Hooray!

Every conceivable poll that measured the race for the past year said that Dodd was so far behind his foremost Republican challenger, former Congressman Rob Simmons, that all Dodd could see was the settling remains of Simmons' dust cloud far, far ahead.





ROB SIMMONS





But even though Simmons is the only Republican in the Senate race with a real chance of winning, and the only one with a consistent double-digit lead over Dodd literally from the moment he declared his candidacy, most reporters and pundits are giving equal status to Johnny-come-lately quasi-Republican challenger, Linda McMahon. Her name is familiar to many who watch "professional" wrestling on television, especially the "matches" promoted by World Wrestling Entertainment, and have seen her in various soap opera-like encounters with wrestlers, promoters and even her own family!

If you aren't familiar with Mrs. McMahon please check out the video below.



But even though Mrs. McMahon, wife of WWE honcho Vince McMahon, has some business acumen through her experience as CEO of the WWE, she is not even certain what party she belongs to, or where her loyalties will be by the time the election comes around. Mrs. McMahon for years made far more donations to Democrats than to Republicans, including Barack Obama's current chief of staff Rham Emanuel, the architect of Obama's policies on terrorism, health insurance, and his takeover of American industries.

Democrats have been licking their chops for months that Mrs. McMahon will win the GOP nomination. They love to point out that she wants the $174,000 per year Senate seat so badly that she has vowed to spend up to $30 million of her own money to win it. (We can only wonder how much she would spend if she had the unlimited resources of the US Treasury - funded by taxpayers - to dip into.)

Pundits continually refer to her willingness to spend so much money to buy the election as a reason to give her better than even chances of beating Simmons in a primary. Personally, I think Connecticut's Republican voters are smarter than that, can't be bought by a RINO - Republican In Name Only - and the pundits are giving her as much ink and face time as possible in hopes that she will spread a ton of that $30 million in their news organization's advertising department.

Polls show that Simmons can hold his own against other Democratic challengers too, although the Dems claim - through use of skewed internal polling - that someone other than Dodd can beat any Republican. That someone is likely to be Connecticut Atty. General Richard Blumenthal, arguably the most visible politician in the state, and certainly one with tremendous name recognition.

But this is shaping up to be a really, really bad year for the Democrats what with the ongoing antics in Washington, D.C., compounded by Connecticut's dismal economy, and a state legislature that is as unmindful of Connecticut voters as the Reid-Pelosi dominated US Congress is of the rest of America. Connecticut is running deficits in the billions, after posting billion dollar surpluses only a couple of years ago, neither of which set well with the voters. Being a Democrat in Connecticut this year is not an automatic ticket to victory.

There is more to the matchup than party loyalties however. America is in deep trouble with its balance of trade deficits, runaway spending in Congress, a renewed vigor among Islamic terrorists due to a fawning White House policy, and we especially are in trouble with our debt to China.

America currently owes about $1.3 trillion to China through bond purchases and other forms of debt. Recent news reports say the Chinese economy is not as robust as has been portrayed for the past several years, and it is quite possible that it could call in its debts, putting America into instant bankruptcy.

How will McMahon or Blumenthal handle such a situation? Are either of them qualified to negotiate with China and other antagonistic governments on either business or military matters? No, they aren't.

But Simmons is highly qualified to be point man on Chinese affairs and other issues facing us overseas. He spent 10 years as CIA operative with heavy experience in the Far East. He spent four years in Vietnam, is a retired US Army Reserve Colonel with 30 years of military intelligence analysis on his resume, and Simmons speaks fluent Chinese!

Connecticut, and the rest of America, need now as much as any other time in our history to send representatives to Washington who understand what is going on worldwide, as well as in their own backyards. We need people who can see the real world situation and realize the failures of the Democratic administration - including recent reverses in the War on Terror and homeland security, nuclear aspirations of countries like Iran, releasing terrorists from Guantanamo, trying terrorists as criminals rather than enemy combatants, and driving our economy deeper into the red. We need a seasoned veteran who will work effectively to bring America back from the brink where we now are teetering.

When he was a Congressman Simmons took the lead in preventing the closing of the New London submarine base, saving approximately 37,000 jobs in a state that is leaking jobs like a sieve. As the state's business advocate Simmons worked tirelessly to help small businesses cut through government red tape and successfully negotiate the minefields of taxes and government regulations.

As a Senate candidate he alone actually has real world experience in the areas where America most needs experience and results. We need a Senator who can start work immediately to turn back the past year's disastrous performance by Congress and the Obama Administration, not simply go along with it as Dodd did and would have done.

A freshman Democrat is not going to Washington to tell Barack Obama that he doesn't get it. Under that scenario Connecticut and America both lose.

Linda McMahon will soon have to face questions about accepting millions of dollars in tax breaks for her business while she also reduced the WWE's workforce; she will have to explain her support for "stimulus" spending that seems only to have helped people in non-existent zip codes and phantom businesses; and she will be under fire for heading up the largest organization representing a highly questionable "sport."

She will need more than $30 million just to explain herself to Connecticut voters.

Simmons has been through the wringer many times before. He has been vetted and passed with flying colors. Simmons is running because he has much to offer Connecticut as its next Senator, and much to offer the rest of America as an expert on foreign affairs, especially in the areas where we now are most vulnerable.

I don't want wealth redistribution, I don't want to drive a government-designed "green" putt-putt, and I don't want to hear any more of this global warming hysteria. I want security for myself, my family and my country, a return to a growing economy, and I want representation by a person with experience in the areas that will provide them.

When Linda McMahon is placed under a microscope, the bloom will quickly wear off the rose. Dick Blumenthal has been an able and competent Attorney General for Connecticut, but I don't see his skill set translating to anti-terrorist security or head-to-head dealings with the Chinese.

Rob Simmons on the other hand, not only can deliver, he has done it throughout his entire career.