Republican US Senate Candidate Linda McMahon has her Democratic opponent on the ropes, revealing him to be a petulant campaigner who is focused on running desperation-initiated negative ads that are easy for McMahon to rebut.

While McMahon's ads focus on Democrat Chris Murphy's record, which frankly, isn't all that hot, his ads in return represent the worst type of personal attacks against McMahon. Obviously Murphy has to go negative against McMahon because he can't go positive about himself.

But wait, the news for Murphy is getting worse. As if he didn't have enough to worry about, one of the last hopes of the Democratic campaign – a splintered GOP vote – is about to fly out the window, with McMahon hosting a unity rally in Groton on October 3.

Republicans and other voters who support McMahon are getting together at 5 p.m., at the Mystic Marriott in Groton to show the world that McMahon is the GOP candidate, everyone understands that and they are supporting here against all comers. The unity rally will showcase her widespread support within the GOP, and is open to independent voters and cross-over Democrats as well.

Just the fact that the McMahon campaign can sponsor such an event spells trouble with a capital T for her opponent. 

Among the many reasons that McMahon's event is such bad news for Murphy is the scheduled attendance by retired Army Colonel, Vietnam Veteran, and former 2nd District Congressman Rob Simmons, who ran against McMahon in 2010.

Murphy is trailing McMahon in legitimate polls – not the media generated propaganda that is over-sampling Democrats by double digits just to keep the ad money flowing into their "news" organizations – and he is suffering from significant negative image issues. Thus an appearance by Simmons at a unity event anywhere in the 2nd Congressional District is sure to draw significant positive attention to McMahon's campaign and her willingness to mend fences.

Simmons, who still maintains a huge support base among 2nd District voters now is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Yankee Institute for Public Policy and in accordance with that organization's policy is prohibited from endorsing political candidates. Nonetheless, Simmons can appear at political events, particularly if he has an opportunity to talk about the issues of the day, which he intends to do on October third.

Reached earlier this week, Simmons said he will be speaking on the failures of the US Senate as it is now configured. "There is no budget, no forward motion and grotesque disclosures of national security information," he said.

The prevailing atmosphere of partisanship in the Senate "lies at the feet of the Democrats," Simmons said. "The Democratic leadership has failed miserably," he added, noting that his experience as a Senate staffer in the 1980s showed him the value of bipartisanship when possible.

Simmons served on the Senate Intelligence Committee working for Senator John H. Chafee (R-Rhode Island) and was named Staff Director of the committee by Chairman Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) – a position he held until from 1981 until 1985. But during that time he also saw successful efforts by the Republicans and Democratic senators such as Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D- NY) to find common ground on national issues.

While he worked for some of the most noteworthy national Republicans of that time, and developed his personal positions on the free market in those days, he also saw a fair share of bipartisanship, which he said is sorely missing now. "It is my experience that Republicans and Democrats can work together," he said.

Simmons put the blame for the current gridlock in Washington squarely on the shoulders of Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid. Just this summer Reid made headlines by accusing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney of not paying any income taxes in the past decade. That statement was disproved virtually immediately but Reid was spared a slander suit because he used the immunity granted to members of the Senate when they are speaking on the Senate floor to protect him.

When Romney released his 2011 income tax returns last week his opponents changed their tunes, saying he paid either too much or too little in taxes and charitable donations.

In addition to appearing at the McMahon unity event in the Mystic Marriott next week, Simmons also has spoken about her campaign in two recent radio appearances and is scheduled for WFSBs Face the State show on Channel 3 at 11 a.m., where he faced off against Susan Bysiewicz. Face the State, hosted by Dennis House, was taped Thursday night and by all accounts is well worth watching.

Also, in a mock debate on the Lee Elci morning radio show two weeks ago, Simmons responded to a statement from his opponent concerning an influx of more than $300,000 to the Murphy campaign from national Democrats by asking "What's he going to do with it? Pay his mortgage?"

Murphy has come under sustained fire from the McMahon campaign on financial issues and how they relate to his time term in office as a Congressman. The campaign has called for an ethics investigation into an increase in Murphy's mortgage from Webster Bank at a low interest rate, just a year after Murphy faced foreclosure on his home due to missing a number of payments.

In an appearance on Regional News Network (WRNN-TV) in Rye Brook, NY Monday night, Simmons quoted Keith Burris, Editorial Page editor for the Manchester, Connecticut Journal Inquirer saying "Murphy is in trouble."

Simmons' appearance in Groton next Wednesday is a major boost for McMahon's campaign, even if he can't make a formal endorsement of her candidacy. His popularity among eastern Connecticut voters can certainly be counted on to make up the minds of undecided voters and further energize a base that already has shown it is significantly on board with McMahon.

That was evident by her nearly 3-1 victory over former Congressman Chris Shays in the August Republican primary. Shays has publicly stated that he is voting for McMahon.

But appearances by Simmons at McMahon campaign events also serve to help him spread another message that is consistent with his work at the Yankee Institute. To maintain a free market economy he avers, and to bring the United States back from its current economic crisis, severe unemployment, increased reliance on government and precipitous decline in stature on the international scene, "The Senate must go Republican. The current Senate is a disgrace."

I won't be watching FOX News this week, at all, which is a major departure from my daily routine and may have some repercussions, but I have been maneuvered into a corner and this is the result.

Usually I start my workday by getting headlines from Fox and Friends, switch to Stuart Varney and Company for an update on business issues and the stock market, and finish off with Neil Cavuto and then Bret Baier's Special Report.

That combination gives me a good overview of what is happening in the world, plus in-depth analyses of selected issues. Generally speaking I find the people I watch to be competent and thorough journalists – although some of their guests and "contributors" generate an automatic channel change.

But all this week FOX and everyone else will be reporting from the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have been listening to the national Dems spout propaganda and whining like a bunch of spoiled brats ad nauseum for the past four years and frankly I can't take another second of it. (I say 'national' Dems because I have a lot of friends who are Democrats but they have far more common sense than their national spokespeople.)

While I'm at it, here is my entry for the theme song for the Democratic Convention and the Obama-Biden ticket. Maybe we should change the title to Have Pity on the (Un)Working Man! Thanks to Mr. Home Run Holmes for the video.



The lineup of convention speakers mirrors the typical Sunday morning political talk shows and I already know what they are going to say. But to my complete amazement – and probably to the rest of thinking Americans too – the headline speaker for the entire convention is not Barack Hussein Obama, the outgoing president of the country, but Bill Clinton the disgraced former president who was impeached within most voters' recent memory.

It's bad enough to hear the Dems' propaganda specialists gushing about Clinton's appearance as if we all should be so thrilled about it, but the media also seems all too willing to forget that his term in office was an abomination. Take for instance the Fox News Sunday show yesterday – I didn't watch the first half because the guests were Obama apologists and like I said, I already know what they have to say and I rejected their arguments long ago.

But I did watch the panel discussion on the second half and I was amazed, stunned even, when panelist Kirsten Powers said, and I quote here, that Clinton's speech "will be the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" for the Democratic convention and the Obama campaign.

WHAT???!!! When was this woman born? Is she a toddler? Is she still in infancy? What an insult to the people at Good Housekeeping! Oh, right, she was a Clinton staffer. That explains it … I guess. But the thing that shocked me was that no one else on the panel challenged her!

Unless she is in complete denial I invite Ms. Powers to do a simple Google search on her former boss. Using just his name kicks up a few websites for his foundation – he probably has a program that automatically makes thousands of hits each day just to keep it at the top of the Google search results – but the first page of returns still trumpets IMPEACHMENT on the 5th or 6th entry and you can't miss it.

But if you do a Google search for Bill Clinton and any variation on the word 'crime' you get an avalanche of sites that contain myriad allegations of criminal activity going all the way back to his days in Arkansas. Take for instance this website which has a section headlined RECORDS SET and then this partial list of 'accomplishments':

- The only president ever impeached on grounds of personal malfeasance
- Most number of convictions and guilty pleas by friends and associates
- Most number of witnesses to flee country or refuse to testify
- Most number of witnesses to die suddenly
- First president sued for sexual harassment
- Largest criminal plea agreement in an illegal campaign contribution case
- First president to be held in contempt of court
- First president disbarred from the US Supreme Court and a state court

Wow, and this rates a Good Housekeeping Seal! And that list doesn't even get into issues such as "girlfriends named Monica," or "presidential cigar tricks" or "pranks on friends named Yasser."

So what will I be doing with my time while the Dems are conducting their group whine session? Well, tonight for instance there is two-hour rerun of Gordon Ramsay's Hotel Hell in prime time on Fox television so, since I didn't see the original, it trumps the Dems – which is a given.

Then there is a plethora of other shows to watch on the History, Discovery and HGTV channels including: new episodes of Pawn Stars; new episodes of Storage Wars – YUUUP; new episodes of American Pickers; more of the Gordon Ramsay Trilogy including new episodes of Hell's Kitchen and Master Chef on Tuesday during prime time; new episodes of House Hunters both domestic and international; and of course Holmes on Homes and Holmes Inspection. I even have some recorded reruns of Yard Crashers if necessary.

Do you know what is on at the same time Bill Clinton will be giving his seal of approval speech? Storage Wars Texas – Ricky and Bubba, Stickin' it to Victor! Kind of appropriate don't you think? You know where I'll be at that time.

Oh, and American Hoggers has new episodes on during the Dems' convention. Have you seen those girls chasing down those wild pigs? Wow! I'll bet there's a million guys out there who sit in their recliners every time that show comes on and imagine getting hogtied – so to speak – by either or both of those beauties. Sorry, did I write that out loud?

So you see, there is plenty to do while I insulate myself from a week of false accusations, excuses, lame promises to do better next time – there won't be a next time – and really stupid remarks from the democratic leadership.

But, there is one thing bothering me. Do you think if I quit FOX News cold turkey I could get withdrawal symptoms?

When I was a young boy Dwight Eisenhower was president.

"Ike" was seen as a highly capable, intelligent, lead-from-the-front president who looked like what he was – a successful, wise elder, the universal grandfather who commanded American armies in Europe, defeated Nazi Germany, and still headed the family firm. When he spoke it was direct, to the point, and there was no misunderstanding the meaning of his words.

Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower

When Mitt Romney took the stage at the GOP convention in Tampa Thursday night to accept the formal Republican nomination as the GOP candidate for President of the United States, many – or should I say most – media outlets and pundits were waiting for a Barack Obama speech, full of as one pundit put it, "soaring rhetoric."

What we got instead was a fatherly talking to, as one could envision Eisenhower delivering, or even a fireside chat reminiscent of Franklin Roosevelt. Mitt in fact, came across as the universal Father Knows Best, the man you can go to when things get out of hand, who will have answers based on the wisdom of his years.

Mitt Romney gave a speech reassuring Americans that he can and will use all of his strength, his intellect and his experience to right the wrongs currently plaguing our country and I loved it! So did the delegates in the hall, audiences across the nation and those gathered before the television in my home.

I am not the least bit sorry that the media didn't get its soaring rhetoric, but they should have learned from the speech that the outgoing president made four years ago – soaring rhetoric in this case equals empty promises.

Mitt Romney
Greek columns and "soaring rhetoric" increased the national debt by an unheard of $4 trillion, resulted in millions of workers losing their jobs, millions of homeowners losing their homes, millions of retirees losing their savings, millions of college graduates losing their dreams, and America losing its world-class status and our sense of security.

Soaring rhetoric produced only more soaring rhetoric and excuses – "it wasn’t my fault, he did it, he did it, he did it!" And the pundits wanted more of the same? Shame on them.

Even many pundits who say they are supporters of the GOP ticket seem afraid to voice anything except criticism of Romney's speech, apparently because they are walking a self-imposed tightrope. They have been reading and believing their own bogus polls - that routinely have to over-sample Democratic voters by double digits to keep the outgoing president in the running - for so long that now they are terrified of reporting the obvious.

That line of thinking requires everything to be in line with a vision of perfection that they created – but doesn't play well in the rest of America.

Americans are afraid; afraid of what might happen to us if Obama is elected again, afraid of the country being run by an inexperienced, incompetent shadow of a man who gets his management advice from an even more obscure group of advisers whose total history is defined by animosity toward the free market system in general and America in particular.

As Mitt Romney noted "President Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet."

Romney by contrast said, "My promise is to help you and your family." I am far more impressed with Romney's promise; and it affects me far more directly than the pie in the sky promises from the outgoing president.

Americans don't need more "soaring rhetoric," they need a capable, competent leader. Mitt Romney is totally capable of soaring rhetoric and perhaps we will hear some of it in the 2014 State of the Union address, which I predict will be his first, and in which he will be able to tout a year of solid accomplishments and provide a vision for more of the same.

But first he must become the next President of the United States of America.

And while we're on the subject of media expectations and total control of the message, let me weigh in on the feeding frenzy over Clint Eastwood's appearance. Yes, it was irreverent, yes it projected a totally different mood than what we were hearing during the rest of the convention, and yes it probably did make Ann Romney squirm in her seat in a couple of places.

But what I think is great, is that it did NOT go off-message, it reinforced the message, from a completely unlikely source, that the outgoing president made a bunch of grandiose promises but delivered on nothing of substance. The best line in my opinion was "Biden is the intellect of the Democratic Party. Kind of a grin with a body behind it."

Clint Eastwood is an 82-year-old Hollywood icon, who unlike the drug addled mindless stars of the modern era, was a businessman who did physical labor before he was discovered as the quintessential cowboy – and later cop, loveable jewel thief, aging veteran and federal agent among many other roles. Eastwood did a hilarious skit in which he talked to an empty chair standing in for Obama, pointing out the vast failures of the current administration.

Of all the reactions, the one I saw that would have made the skit even better was if Eastwood put an empty suit on the empty chair to truly symbolize Obama. That is creative thinking at its best!

If you watch a video of Eastwood's performance you'll see an old man who doesn’t speak quite as glibly as he did 40 years ago when he was Dirty Harry, but who still has a quick wit – he ad-libbed the entire skit for God's sake – a mind like a trap, and a great sense of humor. If you want to know if Eastwood was successful all you have to do is check out the vicious reaction from the media and the rest of the national "leadership" of the Democratic machine - questioning Eastwood's sanity, and questioning whether he is demented for instance.

Once again, as with the current president's vicious attack ads lying about Romney's past, the "leadership" of the Democratic Party is protesting way, way too much. Clint Eastwood was credible, the Democratic media propaganda stooges are not.

Overall the Republican convention was a shining example of the wide appeal of the GOP to the spectrum of American voters. Romney and Paul Ryan presented themselves as inclusive, likeable and most important – capable.

They are about to enter the fight not just of their lives, but of our lives, so it was understandable when Romney got a bit emotional remembering what it was like in supposedly simpler times when he was merely carving out a career and providing for five children who were being raised under the expert tutelage of his wife Ann.

I knew exactly what he meant when he said he wished he could break up just one more fight between the kids, or wake in the morning and find a pile of them asleep in their parents' bedroom.

But Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and the rest of us who still believe in America are now facing the most important battle in America's survival since the Revolution. This is it; this is Armageddon, the final battle between good and evil.

We can win it; that is if we elect Romney and Ryan, if we stand solidly behind them, and with them, and vote them in on Election Day. We can do it, but we all have to stand together, forget the blatherings of people who live in what one pundit called a "media bubble," and remember Clint Eastwood's closing line just before the audience roared "Go Ahead, Make My Day."

We, the people, own this country, he said, and politicians don't rule us, they are our employees.