The last time we watched pro wrestling was sometime in 2001 right around the time World Championship Wrestling (then owed by Ted Turner) went under, with the remnants of the promotion going to its chief competitor, the-then World Wrestling Federation owned by the McMahon family. WCW used to offer the funniest stand-up (and lay down) comedy on television.

Judging by the barrage of direct mail and TV commercials at least, political newcomer Linda McMahon is waging a serious and deep-pockets campaign for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate, where should would ultimately face the increasingly unpopular and ethically challenged Sen. Chris Dodd. Rob Simmons, the former congressman who narrowly lost his seat in 2006 owing to some fishy voter registrations, is presumed to be the front-runner in the primary contest, which also features libertarian leaning Wall Street guru Peter Schiff. Any of them obviously would be a huge upgrade over the fading Dodd, assuming the Democrat machine doesn’t pull a “Torricelli” and force Dodd out of the race so he can (drum roll please) “spend more time with his family.”

The question then is whether McMahon, the CEO of what is now called World Wrestling Entertainment and wife of WWE impresario and ubiquitous TV presence Vince McMahon, would be a viable candidate in the general election. Their family run pro wrestling business (which she never mentions in her commercials) comes with some potentially deal-breaking baggage, such as steroid addled wrestlers dropping dead right and left, which is perhaps the WWE’s version of a death panel. And just one episode of WWE programming (now known as “sports entertainment”) could provide a stand-alone form of opposition research.

If McMahon prevails in the primary, the general election would pit the formerly apolitical businesswoman running on a pro-jobs, pro free-enterprise platform against the standard-issue liberal. That is, someone who worked in the private sector her entire life vs. a corrupt, lifetime politician who never held a real job. Or, a presumed corrupt private sector executive vs. a definitely corrupt career politician! Would McMahon’s unconventional candidacy allow Dodd to get off the mat? Or would her unusual career path fade into the background like Virginia Gov-elect McDonnell’s irrelevant college term paper?

In this crazy, unpredictable political and economic environment, would the majority of voters, most of whom are generally and understandably non-ideological, gravitate toward the self-funded, business friendly candidate? Or to put it another way, given the huge stakes in the 2010 election, has the electorate evolved into a “post-baggage” frame of mind?

Whoever emerges as the nominee, can we agree that this is no time for tedious hand-wringing over social issues?

Footnote: PoliticalLore.com has previously reported that McMahon has a disturbing history of donating to Democrats, to the tune of about $35,000 through years according to the Hartford Courant. The McMahon campaign claims that she has donated twice as much to the Republicans since 1980, however. Business in general often plays both sides of the fence, sometimes to its own detriment. In this particular instance, the primary electorate will apparently decide whether expediency and/or non-partisanship provide a satisfactory explanation.

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