Well now this is bizarre.

Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT) dropped of the race for Chris Dodd’s Senate in Connecticut when the state GOP convention endorsed his primary opponent, fake wrestling star Linda McMahon. But now you see me, now you don’t, and Simmons appears to be getting back into the race – in a very half-hearted way. He's not campaigning or fundraising; he’s just airing one state-wide ad after nearly two months of inactivity.

Rob Simmons, a former congressman who suspended his campaign for the United States Senate in Connecticut only a few weeks ago, is jumping back into the race for the Republican Party nomination with a statewide advertising campaign touting his candidacy. …

In an interview, Eric Janney, the campaign chairman for Mr. Simmons, that the former congressman was not reactivating his campaign. Instead, he said, Mr. Simmons simply wanted to remind Republican voters that they could vote for him if they so desired.

“As he has been going around the state the last couple of months, folks ask him about staying involved in the race,” Mr. Janney said. “Many people did not realize that Rob remained on the ballot. So he decided to do a television ad that reminds people that they have a choice and that Rob is on the ballot.”

I’m very confused as to Simmons’ motives. There’s no way he’s going to win the GOP nomination this way – McMahon is campaigning, fundraising, airing multiple ads, and has the state party’s endorsement. You don’t beat that with just one ad that doesn’t even say “You should vote for me,” just “You can vote for me.” Is this Simmons’ way of trying to punish the tea party for purging moderates like him out of the party? All he can hope to do this way is create intraparty division and weaken McMahon before the general. And while that seems highly unlikely, it wouldn’t surprise me – McMahon may well be the single most unqualified candidate for Senate this entire cycle, more so even than South Carolina’s Alvin Greene. Simmons must know it, and can’t be happy about the direction his party is moving. The National Journal gave him a conservative score of 46.8 out of 100 in 2006, behind 9 Democrats and hardly acceptable material for the 2010 Repub Party, New England or not. It's either about that or he's just got a political itch he can't scratch and little perspective on reality.

Speaking of McMahon’s general election campaign, a new Rasmussen poll out yesterday shows her trailing Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal 52-40, and a recent Quinnipiac poll has her down even more, 54-37.

Finally, from the CTDems, here’s a video showcasing what kind of a Senator McMahon would be:

Looks like I overreacted in last week's post about how Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal has spoken about his Vietnam-era service record. The original New York Times account was damning, but some local media have pushed back on the story. Colin McEnroe of the Hartford Courant posted a long list of "flaws" in the New York Times piece, which McEnroe characterized as "weak journalism with very little meat on its bones." If you watch the whole video excerpted by the New York Times, you'll see that Blumenthal describes himself as "someone who served in the military during the Vietnam-era in the Marine Corps" before saying later, "we have learned something very important since the days that I served in Vietnam." Also, Blumenthal was indeed on the Harvard swim team in college (though not the team captain). The Times piece had suggested Blumenthal embellished his resume by wrongly claiming to have been on that team.

On Friday Connecticut Democrats held their state convention and nominated Blumenthal by acclamation after primary opponent Merrick Alpert withdrew his name from consideration.

Yesterday Blumenthal apologized again, telling the Hartford Courant,

"At times when I have sought to honor veterans, I have not been as clear or precise as I should have been about my service in the Marine Corps Reserves,'' Blumenthal said in a statement emailed to the Courant late Sunday by his spokeswoman, Maura Downes. "I have firmly and clearly expressed regret and taken responsibility for my words.

"I have made mistakes and I am sorry. I truly regret offending anyone,'' Blumenthal said. "I will always champion the cause of Connecticut's and our nation's veterans."

Today Blumenthal's campaign released an internal poll showing him ahead of likely Republican nominee Linda McMahon 55 percent to 40 percent, even though 91 percent of respondents had heard about the controversy regarding his statements about Vietnam. Last week the Republican-leaning pollster Rasmussen found Blumenthal ahead of McMahon 48 percent to 45 percent and leading former Representative Rob Simmons 50 percent to 39 percent. Not only could Blumenthal still win this race, he may still be favored to win. Charlie Cook declared this race a "tossup" just after the New York Times story broke.

What do you think, MyDD readers?

Looks like I overreacted in last week's post about how Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal has spoken about his Vietnam-era service record. The original New York Times account was damning, but some local media have pushed back on the story. Colin McEnroe of the Hartford Courant posted a long list of "flaws" in the New York Times piece, which McEnroe characterized as "weak journalism with very little meat on its bones." If you watch the whole video excerpted by the New York Times, you'll see that Blumenthal describes himself as "someone who served in the military during the Vietnam-era in the Marine Corps" before saying later, "we have learned something very important since the days that I served in Vietnam." Also, Blumenthal was indeed on the Harvard swim team in college (though not the team captain). The Times piece had suggested Blumenthal embellished his resume by wrongly claiming to have been on that team.

On Friday Connecticut Democrats held their state convention and nominated Blumenthal by acclamation after primary opponent Merrick Alpert withdrew his name from consideration.

Yesterday Blumenthal apologized again, telling the Hartford Courant,

"At times when I have sought to honor veterans, I have not been as clear or precise as I should have been about my service in the Marine Corps Reserves,'' Blumenthal said in a statement emailed to the Courant late Sunday by his spokeswoman, Maura Downes. "I have firmly and clearly expressed regret and taken responsibility for my words.

"I have made mistakes and I am sorry. I truly regret offending anyone,'' Blumenthal said. "I will always champion the cause of Connecticut's and our nation's veterans."

Today Blumenthal's campaign released an internal poll showing him ahead of likely Republican nominee Linda McMahon 55 percent to 40 percent, even though 91 percent of respondents had heard about the controversy regarding his statements about Vietnam. Last week the Republican-leaning pollster Rasmussen found Blumenthal ahead of McMahon 48 percent to 45 percent and leading former Representative Rob Simmons 50 percent to 39 percent. Not only could Blumenthal still win this race, he may still be favored to win. Charlie Cook declared this race a "tossup" just after the New York Times story broke.

What do you think, MyDD readers?

Looks like I overreacted in last week's post about how Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal has spoken about his Vietnam-era service record. The original New York Times account was damning, but some local media have pushed back on the story. Colin McEnroe of the Hartford Courant posted a long list of "flaws" in the New York Times piece, which McEnroe characterized as "weak journalism with very little meat on its bones." If you watch the whole video excerpted by the New York Times, you'll see that Blumenthal describes himself as "someone who served in the military during the Vietnam-era in the Marine Corps" before saying later, "we have learned something very important since the days that I served in Vietnam." Also, Blumenthal was indeed on the Harvard swim team in college (though not the team captain). The Times piece had suggested Blumenthal embellished his resume by wrongly claiming to have been on that team.

On Friday Connecticut Democrats held their state convention and nominated Blumenthal by acclamation after primary opponent Merrick Alpert withdrew his name from consideration.

Yesterday Blumenthal apologized again, telling the Hartford Courant,

"At times when I have sought to honor veterans, I have not been as clear or precise as I should have been about my service in the Marine Corps Reserves,'' Blumenthal said in a statement emailed to the Courant late Sunday by his spokeswoman, Maura Downes. "I have firmly and clearly expressed regret and taken responsibility for my words.

"I have made mistakes and I am sorry. I truly regret offending anyone,'' Blumenthal said. "I will always champion the cause of Connecticut's and our nation's veterans."

Today Blumenthal's campaign released an internal poll showing him ahead of likely Republican nominee Linda McMahon 55 percent to 40 percent, even though 91 percent of respondents had heard about the controversy regarding his statements about Vietnam. Last week the Republican-leaning pollster Rasmussen found Blumenthal ahead of McMahon 48 percent to 45 percent and leading former Representative Rob Simmons 50 percent to 39 percent. Not only could Blumenthal still win this race, he may still be favored to win. Charlie Cook declared this race a "tossup" just after the New York Times story broke.

What do you think, MyDD readers?

Looks like I overreacted in last week's post about how Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal has spoken about his Vietnam-era service record. The original New York Times account was damning, but some local media have pushed back on the story. Colin McEnroe of the Hartford Courant posted a long list of "flaws" in the New York Times piece, which McEnroe characterized as "weak journalism with very little meat on its bones." If you watch the whole video excerpted by the New York Times, you'll see that Blumenthal describes himself as "someone who served in the military during the Vietnam-era in the Marine Corps" before saying later, "we have learned something very important since the days that I served in Vietnam." Also, Blumenthal was indeed on the Harvard swim team in college (though not the team captain). The Times piece had suggested Blumenthal embellished his resume by wrongly claiming to have been on that team.

On Friday Connecticut Democrats held their state convention and nominated Blumenthal by acclamation after primary opponent Merrick Alpert withdrew his name from consideration.

Yesterday Blumenthal apologized again, telling the Hartford Courant,

"At times when I have sought to honor veterans, I have not been as clear or precise as I should have been about my service in the Marine Corps Reserves,'' Blumenthal said in a statement emailed to the Courant late Sunday by his spokeswoman, Maura Downes. "I have firmly and clearly expressed regret and taken responsibility for my words.

"I have made mistakes and I am sorry. I truly regret offending anyone,'' Blumenthal said. "I will always champion the cause of Connecticut's and our nation's veterans."

Today Blumenthal's campaign released an internal poll showing him ahead of likely Republican nominee Linda McMahon 55 percent to 40 percent, even though 91 percent of respondents had heard about the controversy regarding his statements about Vietnam. Last week the Republican-leaning pollster Rasmussen found Blumenthal ahead of McMahon 48 percent to 45 percent and leading former Representative Rob Simmons 50 percent to 39 percent. Not only could Blumenthal still win this race, he may still be favored to win. Charlie Cook declared this race a "tossup" just after the New York Times story broke.

What do you think, MyDD readers?