My good pal Tom Scott, the former state senator and conservative rabble-rouser who knows where all the bodies are buried in Connecticut politics, interviewed Rob Simmons on Monday (on WICC-AM, where Tom occasionally hosts a local talk show), and pressed the former Congressman about his suspended campaign to be the GOP challenger to Attorney General Dick Blumenthal for the U.S. Senate seat held by the retiring Chris Dodd. Simmons was narrowly beaten at the state GOP convention last month by moneybags wrestling aficionado Linda McMahon (“a shlock merchant of the first order” as Rich Lowry recently wrote), and essentially bowed out of the race even though both his name and McMahon’s will appear on the August 10th primary ballot. On his show, Tom pressed Simmons repeatedly about getting back into the race. He believes Simmons could defeat Blumenthal, whereas McMahon can’t (imagine the fun Democrats will have with her cringe-inducing WWE wrestling hijinx), and believes that on the critical issues of the day – anti-terrorism, defense, and taxes – Simmons, who had a wide RINO steak while serving in Congress, is nevertheless where the nation needs to be. During the interview the former Congressman would not promise to re-launch his hiatused campaign, but neither did he say it was kaput. Nor did he endorse McMahon. He clearly gave the impression that the door remained open (also: he noted that last week Ann Coulter urged Sarah Palin “to endorse Rob Simmons for U.S. Senate. Otherwise, Republicans can kiss the possibility of a major upset in Connecticut goodbye.”). Tom’s blog about the interview includes the audio – it’s well worth the listen. Here’s his take: In an interview I conducted with former Congressman Rob Simmons yesterday on Connecticut’s WICC 600-AM, Simmons, who suspended his U.S. Senate campaign after losing the Republican nominating convention in May, would not rule out reactivating his campaign in time to compete in the August 10 primary. Simmons left his name on the primary ballot when he suspended his campaign. Tom Scott: “If duty calls, are you ready for one more mission?” Rob Simmons: “Well, Tom, you’re making it very hard for me….bottom line is I love my country, I don’t like the direction in which it’s going, and I will do anything in my power to change that direction — and I think it’s essential that we have a Republican elected to this Senate seat in November.” A recent Quinnipiac Poll indicated that since Simmons’ campaign went silent, he has gained ground in a head-to-head against Blumenthal in the general and against Linda McMahon in the primary. McMahon’s unfavorable rating is now nearly as high as her favorable (35% unfavorable to 38% favorable), and this is without a single negative campaign commercial run against her. Blumenthal has higher name ID than McMahon, but even with all the terrible publicity he has received, his 29% unfavorable rating is lower than hers. Meanwhile, Simmons is less well known, but his favorable rating is three times his unfavorable, 36% to 13%. Blumenthal is tainted, but – fair or unfair — by her association with professional wrestling, so is McMahon. Given the latest polling, I’m convinced that nominating McMahon is ceding the race to Dodd Part II, which is what we’ll get with Blumenthal. The overriding focus of this election ought to be putting the brakes on President Obama’s forward march towards economic socialism. Rob Simmons has always been on the right side of taxes and spending. And with his foreign policy and military background, he also gets it when it comes to the larger implications of this election. In my interview with him, he spoke emotionally about freedom and liberty saying, “I always felt I was fighting for freedom. I actually have the sense that we are losing that freedom here at home.” With an open U.S. Senate seat to fill, and running against a flawed liberal Democratic nominee, Connecticut Republicans can’t afford to miss the opportunity to nominate someone who can win, and who will stand up to Obama. The clock is ticking. Connecticut Republicans need to take a fresh look at Rob Simmons; and he needs to hear from us en masse to know that we’ll be there for him. For the record, I am no fan of Mrs. McMahon, especially her refusal to mea culpa for her past largesse to Democrats (Rahm Emanuel! The DCCC!), though I’ll take her over Dick Blumenthal, the VFW wannabe, any day of the week.