Political Capitol

After last night’s televised three-way Republican gubernatorial debate I made a mental note to contact Peter Schiff’s campaign today and find out whether there has been talk of his debating businesswoman/professional wrestling maven Linda McMahon.

McMahon, a Greenwich resident whose family owns Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment, won the party’s nomination in late May. But Schiff, an economist from Weston, petitioned his way onto the August 10 primary ballot.

She’s been ignoring her primary opponent but I figured the Schiff people must be trying to schedule some face-off, if only to raise their candidate’s profile while the millionaire McMahon continues her self-funded advertising blitz.

Before I even had the chance to reach out to Schiff, he publicly challenged McMahon to a pre-primary debate – preferably one in which they have an opportunity to pose questions to each another.

“If McMahon’s refusal to debate is any indication of what she would be like in Washington, she significantly lacks the necessary characteristics to be Connecticut’s senator,” Schiff said in a statement this morning. “The Nutmeg State can’t afford a senator who sits quietly in the corner.”

To be fair, McMahon isn’t exactly “sitting quietly.” She has been out and about making campaign stops throughout the state, done a few interviews with the press and, as I mentioned, is running lots of television and radio ads.

McMahon spokesman Ed Patru issued the following response: “Linda has appeared in many forums and debates with Peter Schiff throughout the course of this primary. We think Republicans understand the difference between them, and they have an expectation that Linda will focus on (Democratic nominee) Richard Blumenthal. She’s looking forward to debating Richard Blumenthal.”

Schiff by phone this evening called McMahon’s comments “presumptuous.”

“You haven’t even won the primary,” he said. “Ten thousand people signed a petition to put me on a ballot. Don’t we deserve a debate?”

He also argued that many of their joint appearances have been private, cordial meetings with groups of GOP delegates prior to the May convention that also included Rob Simmons. Simmons, a former U.S. Rep. from Stonington, won enough votes at the convention to make the primary ballot, but several weeks ago said he had no plans to campaign against McMahon.

“They were friendly affairs. There was no confrontation,” Schiff said.

The three also participated in one televised debate in March, which, like most of the debates held this campaign season, was more of a forum with disappointingly little to no actual candidate interaction.

Schiff told me the obvious – McMahon is in the lead and strategically it would make no sense for her to agree to a debate. Democrat Ned Lamont of Greenwich, who forced a primary against his party’s nominee – former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy – and has been leading in primary polls, has employed the same strategy. Malloy has hammered away at Lamont for refusing to 17 additional pre-primary debates and Lamont has countered they’ve made numerous appearances together.

“When you’re the front-runner you don’t want to. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose,” Schiff said. “But out of common courtesy and respect for the voters let your opponent have a shot to be fair.”

Schiff, who I call a “celebrity economist” because he’s made regular appearances on national television and authored some books, is confident that if voters see him run circles around McMahon when it comes to economic issues, they would be convinced he is the right candidate to send to Congress.

“If people see me and Linda on a podium – two people with zero political experience. Never been to Washington. Two successful businesspeople who want to go to Washington. Which one do we want to send? Who has the best experience? Whose knowledge is most relevant? Someone in show business, marketing and promotion writing wrestling scripts or someone in finance and economics?” Schiff said.

He added he is the candidate who was criticizing Washington lawmakers long-before McMahon decided to enter politics last year.

“I wrote books. I went on television. I articulated how mad I was,” Schiff said.

From a selfish standpoint as a journalist I’d love to see Schiff and McMahon actually mix it up live. While Schiff talks a good game about the economy, I’ve heard some criticize him for being too extreme and a one-issue candidate. So it would be interesting to see how he fared against McMahon on non-economic policies.

I’m no political consultant, but heck, a debate with Schiff might even help McMahon win over some unaffiliated voters and perhaps even some moderate Democrats in this traditionally blue state.

Schiff said if McMahon continues to refuse to participate in a debate, he might try to at least schedule one with Simmons.

“I’ve talked to Rob and I’m trying to figure out where his head is,” Schiff said. “I have a feeling if he was offered a debate with me he’d take it. I have a hard time believing Linda McMahon would let me and Rob debate and not be there.”