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Missed your daily dose of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon’s television commercials?

That’s because the mostly self-funded former wrestling executive decided not to advertise in the New York market in honor of today’s eleventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C.

Democrat Chris Murphy’s campaign said it also was honoring Sept. 11 with an ad blackout, although some could argue Murphy, who is relying on campaign contributions, has been barely on the air to begin with.

But that is scheduled to change tomorrow with the help – as anticipated – of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

A Democratic source said the DSCC beginning tomorrow has invested $320,000 on television advertising in Connecticut through Sept. 18th.

Murphy’s camp declined comment.

McMahon’s campaign was quick to portray the situation as Murphy’s “Washington cronies” riding to his rescue.

UPDATE:

Saddle up! Here’s the ad:

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The criticism about primaries is allegations made by opponents of the same party can then be used in the general election by the other side.

It should come as no surprise, then, that in her second bid for U.S. Senate, self-funded Republican Linda McMahon has produced a flyer (the third from McMahon to hit my mailbox this week) which revives accusations from this summer’s Democratic primary.

Ex-Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz unsuccessfully sought to convince voters her opponent for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination, Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, was bought and paid for by Wall Street specifically and the financial services industry in general.

Yes the financial services industry, housed mainly in lower Fairfield County, plays a major role in Connecticut’s economy, but that doesn’t matter when you’re trying to be the populist candidate.

And Bysiewicz at one point got her facts wrong in an ad criticizing Murphy.

So who shows up in McMahon’s latest campaign brochure?

The McMahon campaign’s decision to recycle Bysiewicz’s attacks isn’t shocking. McMahon’s campaign staffers know that during tough economic times they must find a way to positively portray their candidate’s wealth and the fact she’s so far spent $64 million during her two bids for Senate while enjoying a low tax rate.

What better way to do that than tag Murphy, who is playing up his more modest lifestyle and has to raise campaign contributions to compete against McMahon, as the career politician beholden to special interests?

In the topsy-turvy world of politics, with Bysiewicz out of the running, suddenly the candidate whose family relaxed on a 47-foot yacht named “Sexy Bitch” wants to be the populist.

Agree or not that McMahon would make a good Senator, her campaign, strategy-wise, continues to run circles around Murphy, crafting a positive narrative about herself before he has a chance to define himself, let alone attack his opponent.

UPDATE:

In an interview this afternoon Bysiewicz emphasized the flyer was produced without her permission and that, despite their differences during the primary campaign, she backs Murphy.

“I got one at my house,” Bysiewicz said of McMahon’s mailing. “I didn’t notice it. I put them in recycling. My husband happened to turn it over … Linda McMahon did not call me to say, ‘Hey, Susan, can I use your picture?’ I wouldn’t endorse her. I’m disappointed people got that flyer and think that would be the case when it isn’t.”

She continued, “Hey, Chris and I had a lively debate on the Wall Street issue. But I am supporting Chris over Linda because I know that he supports policies that are going to help the middle class, just as I do. … I’ve decided to support Chris and have been very, very clear since after the election and have been supporting Chris’ campaign and will be helping Chris and all the Democrats.”

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Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy needs to increase the size of his campaign war chest in order to better compete with Republican Linda McMahon’s mostly self-financed second bid for U.S. Senate.

McMahon spent $50 million of the family’s World Wrestling Entertainment fortune on a failed 2010 run.

But while Murphy’s waiting on the large donors to come through, his campaign is encouraging grass roots supporters to continue to do what they can by tossing change in a jar whenever they see one of McMahon’s slick ads on television.

Here in the newsroom we’ve usually got the television tuned to some news program/station and see a lot of those McMahon ads. At that rate none of us could afford Murphy’s challenge.

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Multi-talented film octogenarian Clint Eastwood’s occasionally creative but mostly embarrassing performance at last week’s Republican National Convention.

72-year-old action star Chuck Norris’ pivot from backing some of the GOP’s also-rans for president to embracing Mitt Romney to avoid the “triumph of evil.”

Is it too much to hope that at some point Republican U.S. Senate nominee Linda McMahon’s ripped husband, Vince, who turned 67 August 24, actually gets involved in her second bid for office?

Linda, who with Vince helped build Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment, has been emphasizing her softer side and the fact she’s a wife, mother and grandmother in ads to appeal to women voters.

And occasionally she refers to Vince, who is probably best known to voters for performances in the ring Democrats successfully used against his wife in 2010.

Imagine what these three aging GOP powerhouses could accomplish together.

Or, at the very least, Expendables III, anyone?

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It’s tough running a campaign against Republican millionaire Linda McMahon’s slickly produced second bid for U.S. Senate.

The ex-World Wrestling Entertainment executive has got the personal fortune to ensure those polished, touchy-feely job creator ads are in constant rotation on cable with the polished hits on Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy.

And when Murphy has attempted to fight back, it’s looked like something out of a high school film class…

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Now, on the heels of one poll showing McMahon with a three point lead in blue Connecticut, Murphy’s campaign is getting more aggressive.

The campaign today released this new ad with the slogan, “Linda McMahon, always for her, never for us.”

The spot goes after not only WWE as a business – a tactic Democrats successfully used against McMahon in her 2010 Senate bid – but also her tax returns.

Murphy’s staff also today launched a cheeky series of roundtables to hear how people in Connecticut “would better use the $7 million personal tax break” she’d receive under her jobs plan.

It still can’t compete with the barrage of McMahon advertising, but Democrats have got to be happy to see Murphy does not intend to spend the next two months before the general election as a punching bag.

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Since Chris Donovan lost last Tuesday’s Democratic primary, there has been a lot of speculation about whether the retiring state House Speaker from Meriden will continue his run for Congress as the Working Families Party candidate.

Donovan received the party’s endorsement and it is up to him to tell the Secretary of the State to leave his name on the ballot for the 5th District seat or pull it off.

It’s hardly a scientific poll, but two Donovan backers I interviewed Wednesday said he should leave the race. One feared if Donovan runs as the Working Families candidate he will take votes away from the Democratic nominee – Elizabeth Esty – and hand the race to Republican Andrew Roraback.

The other said they did not see the point in Donovan continuing his bid because the campaign finance scandal that damaged the Speaker’s candidacy hasn’t gone away.

Like I said, hardly scientific, but valid points.

Anyway today leaders of the Working Families Party, likely tired of fielding questions about Donovan’s political future, released the following statement advising everyone to chill out for a few days/weeks.

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Julie Kushner, Kurt Westby, and Sal Luciano, the co-chairs of the Connecticut Working Families Party State Committee, have released the following statement:

When Chris Donovan returns from vacation, we’ll have a conversation with him about remaining on the Working Families ballot line. State law leaves the decision in Chris Donovan’s hands. If he chooses to give up the line, the Working Families Party will go through our regular, democratic process to determine how to fill the vacancy in the next few weeks.

The Working Families Party has a responsibility to voters and our supporters to ensure that our  nominations go to candidates who will stand up for the values that affect working and middle class families. The value of our endorsement comes, in part, from the integrity of this process.

The Working Families Party is an independent grassroots party that fights for the 99%. WFP evaluates the records of all the candidates and supports only those with a proven track record of standing up for working-class and middle-class families on issues like good jobs, affordable healthcare, fair taxes and quality schools.

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State Rep. Andres Ayala, D-Bridgeport, and supporters like Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch have said if elected to the state Senate in November, Ayala will be the first Latino member.

I checked the claim last week with the state’s Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission and Werner Oyanadel, the acting executive director, confirmed it.

But after mentioning it in print, a reader in an email suggested late former Republican Senator M. Adela Eads of Kent beat Ayala to the distinction but didn’t advertise it.

Here’s what I found out.

According to a special legislative resolution passed following Eads’ death in 2003, she was born Mary Adela Diaz in Brooklyn, New York.

A call to her son, Gregory Eads, confirmed that his mother was half Spanish.

“It would not have been known because her maiden name was not known,” Gregory said. “Her father was 100 percent Spanish (from) the northern shore of Spain.” And mom was Scottish.

Oyanadel said, “We (the commission) focus on the representation from Latin American countries, not Spain or Europe.”

So while he called Eads “a wonderful leader in Connecticut” Oyanadel said Ayala, if elected, will be the first Latino to serve in the Senate.

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State Sen. Ed Gomes, D-Bridgeport, lost Tuesday’s three-way primary for his 23rd District seat but has the option of continuing the fight as the Working Families Party’s candidate.

Gomes earned the third party’s endorsement and his name will appear on their ballot line in November’s general election unless he tells the Secretary of the State to remove it.

The Gomes campaign was not prepared to discuss that alternative before the polls closed Tuesday, when the candidate was still focused on defeating opponents Andres Ayala and Ernie Newton.

Ayala won, Gomes came in third.

On Wednesday I asked Gomes’ campaign manager, Marty Dunleavy, about the Working Families option.

Dunleavy would not say whether the candidate has made any decisions, but did add, “The forces that would be aligned against Ernie Newton, the vast majority of them will be supportive of Andres Ayala.”

Newton, Gomes’ predecessor, went to jail six years ago following a federal corruption probe that concluded he had abused his Senate office.

He was running a campaign of redemption, but many Democrats in the city and in the state Senate were concerned about the possibility of his return to the Capitol. Senate President Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn, Majority Leader Martin Looney, D-New Haven and others visited Bridgeport Tuesday to campaign for Gomes.

So I could envision a scenario where Newton won the primary and the establishment chose to throw its support behind a Gomes’ third party run.

But Ayala, who has the support of Mayor Bill Finch, is not a controversial figure. And while Gomes’ supporters may be disappointed Ayala beat their man, those within the party  mainstream are likely not going to be encouraging Gomes to continue his battle for his seat.