Parson Shays Awaits Poll Result Against Linda McMahon.

Former Republican congressman Christopher Shays is looking to the results of a public poll to determine if he stands a chance of defeating Linda McMahon for the 2012 U.S. Senate nomination, Daily Ructions has learned from multiple sources. The poll has been in the field this week and asks Republican voters about both Shays and McMahon, with an emphasis on Shays.

Shays left Connecticut for the Maryland shore after losing his 2008 bid for a 12th term in Congress to Democrat Jim Himes by 11,000 votes. The former Bridgeport resident has been trying to figure out if he could best McMahon, the 2010 Senate nominee, in a primary fight next summer.

The Vietnam conscientious objector turned Iraq hawk was deeply embarrassed when Michael Sohn, who moved back and forth between Shays’ congressional staff and his campaigns, was revealed to have embezzled thousands of dollars in campaign funds from the righteous campaign finance reformer.

Shays, 65, would be able to skip the Republican nominating convention, where he’d be a decided underdog among party activists, and petition his way onto a primary ballot.

McMahon, who has kept a robust schedule of public and private meetings since last fall, is expected to announce her candidacy later this summer at the earliest.