By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon has vowed to spend up to $50 million to promote her U.S. Senate campaign in Connecticut. Monday night, McMahon didn't have to spend a dime on the most effective advertising she's had all campaign on Fox News's "On The Record" program.

The six-minute segment was shot exclusively at various fairs - the good ol' American venue - in the state of Connecticut as McMahon walked amongst the people. Fox News reporter Griff Jenkins followed around McMahon as she hugged, talked to, and interacted with kids, adults, and, most importantly, potential voters in the Senate race.

In terms of presentation, one of the weaknesses of McMahon's campaign has been her stiff, rigid demeanor and robotic-like responses during TV and radio interviews. The Fox News puff piece showed McMahon "letting her hair down" tossing a football around and throwing a baseball at a dunk tank. It was effective, Paul Heyman-style minimization of her weakness in the charisma department.

The topic of WWE came up near the end of the interview. It was as if Jenkins had both hands tied behind his back forced to ask the "obligatory WWE question" on the accusations she has faced from opponents and critics. Jenkins introduced a softball question from a New York Times editorial saying McMahon's qualification to run for Senator is "running the sex and violence spectacle known as World Wrestling Entertainment."

McMahon easily transitioned into the usual press release-quality explanation that WWE's TV programming has "evolved" from TV-14 to PG-TV after she helped "transform an industry." She then calmly discussed WWE's social programs promoting voting and literacy.

Because McMahon seemed so nice and friendly - especially after the footage earlier in the segment - the average person was led to conclude: "How could such a nice lady be accused of all these things I've been reading about?" And, since the program was on Fox News, the second conclusion must be: "It must be that liberal New York Times stirring up trouble." It was an effective P.R. maneuver to "soften the impact" of real issues McMahon is faced with from her WWE background.

In a brief follow-up question on whether McMahon's WWE background has hurt or helped her, she briefly mentioned WWE fans coming up to her saying they support her campaign. The Fox broadcast then transitioned into clips of "WWE fans" wearing John Cena t-shirts high-fiving her at the fair. Also included was a quick "man on the street" soundbyte from a fair-goer saying McMahon has business sense because she "built a business from the ground up."

In the final point on the WWE topic, McMahon said she's confident she'll continue to close ground on her Democratic opponent, Richard Blumenthal. She confidently said she believes she will move up in the polls as her opponents focus on her WWE background.

If more mainstream news coverage follows Fox News's lead and continues to avoid the real issues of wrestler health concerns, McMahon's callous response to Lance Cade's death last week, and the lack of transparency with the Wellness Policy she points to in response to any historical concerns with health issues in WWE, she won't have anything to worry about on the "WWE issue" affecting her campaign.

Video: The segment that aired last night on "Off The Record" is in the video below. Also, a transcript is available on Fox News.



Transcript Available: FoxNews.com.

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