By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon grabbed local and national headlines today criticizing U.S. president Barack Obama while on the campaign trail in the Connecticut Senate race. Obama is in Stamford, Conn. tonight raising money for McMahon's Senate opponent, Richard Blumenthal.

"I think president Obama, in my view, has fallen far short of what the expectation was when he became President. We are further in debt, our deficit has grown, unemployment has grown," McMahon said from her campaign headquarters. "From a leadership perspective, I think he has fallen short."

The Associated Press's report adds perspective that it's a break from McMahon trying to appeal to voters from both the Republican and Democratic parties in Connecticut, which leans Democratic. McMahon is running as a Republican against Blumenthal, who has Obama and the Democratic party backing him.

McMahon also offered an interesting evaluation of Blumenthal, focusing on the perception that he's a self-promoter.

"He seems to be a pretty nice guy. ... I don't know him personally. I know of him. I have certainly seen his picture in newspapers and quotes and all of the press releases that have gone out over the years," McMahon said. "He's very well-known, recognized around the state."

Regarding the connection between McMahon and President Obama, there's an interesting six degrees of separation based on her and WWE's financial donations to the Democratic party over the years. This was focused on early in McMahon's campaign when Republican opponents accused her of not supporting the party.

In a March 2010 interview with the New Haven Register, McMahon casually recalled writing a check to Rahm Emanuel, the White House Chief of Staff under Obama, simply because Emanuel's brother requested McMahon do him a favor. Emanuel's brother, Ari, is an attorney in Los Angeles who has represented WWE for nearly 20 years.

"During the course of time, Ari has called me many times to donate for this project or donate for that project," McMahon said. "He called me one day and said his brother (Rahm) was running for Congress in Illinois. 'Would I contribute to his campaign?' So, I sent him a check. I didn't know Rahm Emmanuel, this was a favor to Ari."

Link: Today's AP report on McMahon vs. Obama. Thanks to Torch reader Robert Taylor.

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