By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

-- U.S. president Barack Obama suggested former WWE CEO Linda McMahon is not a serious candidate for Senator during a fundraising event sponsoring McMahon's Senate race opponent, Richard Blumenthal, last night in Connecticut.

“This is the kind of leader you want representing you, somebody you know,” Obama said of Blumenthal, “somebody who doesn’t just show up and try to get a victory by writing a big check and flooding the airwaves with negative ads.”

Obama added lighthearted comments about McMahon's wrestling background, referring to McMahon's Republican nomination victory earlier this year when she said she was looking for a "smackdown" vs. Blumenthal in the November general election.

“I understand she has promised a smackdown,” Obama said. “And look, there’s no doubt I can see how somebody who has been in professional wrestling would think that they are right at home in the U.S. Senate if they were watching some of the behavior that’s been going on. But the truth is - and Dick understands this - public service is not a game."

While there in Connecticut to promote Blumenthal's credentials, it's apparent one of Obama's goals was to discredit McMahon for simply blanketing the state with promotional material to promote her campaign and for being an overall risky choice for Senator with no prior experience.

Links: Forbes.com coverage and ABC News coverage.

-- CBS News's "Evening News with Katie Couric" ran a story on McMahon vs. Blumenhtal during yesterday's broadcast ahead of Obama's appearance in Connecticut.

The story features an interesting statistic that there are more independent voters than registered Republicans or Democrats, which captures why McMahon is trying to appeal to moderates in the Democratic-leaning state.

On the wrestling front, McMahon offered a wrestling example to support her campaign when answering a simple question: "What is wrong with Washington?"

McMahon said she believes representatives need term limits, playing to the idea that she's not a fan of "career politicians," which she has labeled Blumenthal throughout the race.

She said she's limiting herself to no more than two terms if she's elected. "I was the CEO of WWE and I always found that whenever we were really growing and interjecting new ideas, we were hiring people from the outside with a different perspective and I think that's what we need to do in Washington," she said.

Videos: There are two videos below from Couric's story. The first video is the feature-length CBS News story on McMahon vs. Blumenthal. The second video is McMahon responding to the "What's wrong with Washington?" question. Videos courtesy CBSNews.com.





-- Connecticut investigative reporter Brian Lockhart has follow-up on WWE being audited for their classification of wrestlers and talent as independent contractors.

The report includes comments from Richard Blumenthal denying he had anything to do with the audit from his Attorney General office. WWE claimed when the news first broke that it was a "politically motivated" audit in the midst of McMahon's Senate campaign against Blumenthal.

“I had no knowledge of the investigation or audit," Blumenthal said, adding he found out about the audit on Tuesday when the news broke. “I have no involvement now and I’m not going to comment further.”

Lockhart added in his report that he asked Blumenthal if he welcomed the audit of WWE considering his position of cracking down on businesses misclassifying their workers as independent contractors. Blumenthal reportedly "declined to comment specifically on the audit of WWE," but he gave a general response that he supports tough penalties if wrongdoing is found with any company.

Report Link: CTNews.com.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE NEWS: Superstars SPOILERS - Results from Chicago Raw

WWE NETWORK: Monday, Oct. 12 Schedule - Raw pre-show, Sting DVD preview

WWE NEWS: Lana & Rusev reportedly engaged - follow the interesting 2015 timeline