Cost Of Entry: 50 Million Bucks!

CNN's AC 360

Randi Kaye

March 3, 2010

What would you do with $50 million? Would you spend it on a campaign for the U.S. Senate?

That's what Republican Senate Candidate, Linda McMahon, says she's willing to do to get to Washington. She's been campaigning in Connecticut and has said she's willing to spend her own money - $50 million bucks - on her campaign if necessary.

We tried to interview Linda McMahon for our story on AC360° tonight, but her campaign staff repeatedly told us she was too busy. ...

If you recognize her name, you must be a fan of wrestling. McMahon and her husband, Vince McMahon, co-founded Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment. As she tells it, they were bankrupt all those years ago and then turned that bankruptcy into a billion dollar business.

Maybe you've seen Linda McMahon on stage in the midst of a "smackdown" with her daughter and some of the wrestlers. It's certainly entertaining to watch, but critics say it hasn't exactly prepared her for public office and she's using her money to "buy the senate seat." ...

McMahon has been fielding questions about her money for months. Last night, at the debate in Hartford, Connecticut, she told reporters "you can't buy an election, you need the voters."

But her opponent, Rob Simmons, told me "you can't compete with someone who has tons of money." He likes to tell voters, "I don't need 40 or 50 million dollars, I need people and voters."

Political experts are predicting that this could be the most expensive midterm election in history. The Center for Responsive Politics expects about $3.7 billion dollars will be spent in November this year. One expert told me, "there is no recession in politics." ...

She doesn't have to spend time fundraising because she's so wealthy. She can spend as much as she wants on advertising on TV, newspapers, and radio. She can also afford to pay for a quality staff. Her campaign director, I'm told, is earning nearly $300,000 a year. She has already spent about $1 million on mailings and literature.

In Connecticut, where 37,000 families are facing foreclosure, McMahon's critics say she's out of touch. She just bought a $4 million condo last month, and she owns an $8 million home in one of the most expensive communities in the country, Greenwich, CT. She also has two other condos in Las Vegas and Boca Raton, Florida. ...

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