Sunday, October 31, 2010

Bizarre Anti-McMahon Piece By AP

The following has been up as a lead story on my Yahoo! homepage for over 12 hours. It is truly bizarre, and I will reprint it in full below:

Conn. wrestling fans: We're no lock for McMahon

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut fans of World Wrestling Entertainment say Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon's ties to the company won't guarantee their votes on Election Day.

Pro wrestling fanatics in Hartford on Saturday said the former WWE CEO's campaign has no bearing on their enjoyment of the WWE. The company was in Hartford's XL Center for Fan Appreciation Day.

McMahon is running against Democratic state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal for the seat of retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd. A recent poll showed Blumenthal leading McMahon.

WWE representatives say the weekend show wasn't about rallying voters. They say it was held to thank fans for supporting the company despite what they call unfair attacks on its image from state Democrats and the media.

That's it. Not a single person quoted in the story to back up their headline, not even anonymously. As a matter of fact, even their generalized statements do not indicate that WWE fans are planning to vote against Linda McMahon, only that her status of CEO of the WWE will not affect their vote.

Is it possible people are going to vote for her based on her positions, or against Dick Blumenthal based on his irresponsible public statements claiming non-existent service in Vietnam? I'm starting to believe that is the more likely scenario, and AP writers, desperate for a way to discredit and smear Linda McMahon (have you seen what the Alaskan media has stooped to to "get" Joe Miller?), put up their misleading headline in the hopes to embarrass her, while simultaneously hoping nobody clicked through to the non-story?

Maybe this piece will be fleshed out. But it's been posted for almost 14 hours now, with no changes. Is this the best the AP can do to stop the oncoming Republican wave?

Cheap. Dirty. Unprofessional. Blatantly partisan.

In other words, everything we've come to expect from the mainstream media...

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