Parson Shays Steps in It. Smear Turns Into Landmine. Bridgeport RTC Chairman Refutes Ugly Charge. Conscientious Objector Trips Trying to Takedown McMahon.
Maybe this is how it’s done in Maryland. Former Congressman Christopher Shays’ Senate campaign made a false accusation that rival Linda McMahon bribed Bridgeport Republican Town Committee Chairman John Slater with tickets to Wrestlemania in Miami this spring. The Shays campaign took photos from Slater’s Facebook page showing him at the event and handed them over to the Greenwich Time, accusing McMahon supporter Slater of trading his ticket to the ultimate wrestling event for an endorsement of the wrestling mogul making her second bid for the U.S. Senate.
Shays picked on the wrong wrestling fan. Slater provided a copy of his bank statement showing he paid $355 for the primo ticket to the paper, turning the accusation into a serious convention eve embarrassment for Vietnam era conscientious objector Shays. The McMahon campaign is escalating the Shays fiasco with a statement from Slater that you can listen to here.
There may be some cultural dissonance at work. The Shays people probably do not understand the popularity of professional wrestling. Millions for a swank home on the Chesapeake Bay, yes. They get that. Hundreds for a ticket to a professional wrestling who-ha? It’s simply not done by our people, Muffy. And Slater has gone to the annual wrestling festival more than once! Golly, who are these Republicans and how did they come to live in the Fourth Congressional District, the the 66 year old Shays and his people must wonder. Twenty-one years in Congress can isolate a fella from the cultural diversity of our times, dude.
As of noon, Slater had not received an apology from Parson Shays.