Showtime!The contender, dressed in black, was working the crowd amid sporadic chants of "Linda! Linda! Linda!" Wading across the floor of a bustling ballroom, she flashed an arsenal of practiced moves: here, a handshake or a hug, there, a whis-per and a sharp nod of her blonde head. It was a Friday evening in May, and some 1,500 delegates had convened in Hartford for the Connecticut Republican Convention, where they would be voting to endorse one of several candidates for an open U.S. Senate seat. Linda McMahon was gripping, grabbing and locking up support. As a competitor, McMahon had the advantage of wealth-she was promising to spend $50 million to win the seat-and an improbable self-made biography. But what really set the first-time candidate apart at this gathering of town bosses and selectmen was her ease with small-bore politicking. She was playing the audience like a seasoned performer.
展开▼
