Former Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) is ready for his political comeback and says he can put the Senate seat in play for the Republicans if he is his party’s nominee.

“If I win the primary, I believe I can win the general,” he told Roll Call last week.

But winning the primary remains a big if. He faces self-funding former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, who lost the Senate race last fall to now-Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D).

Shays maintains that he has “as good of a shot at winning the convention as she does” but said she is “not qualified.”

Shays also pushed the idea that the $50 million McMahon spent on her failed 2010 Senate race is a liability. “She has illustrated … she’s reckless with her own money,” he said, asking how she would handle “other people’s money” as a Senator.

Shays also took issue with President Barack Obama, saying Obama had “no experience but lots of confidence. Some might call that arrogance.”

Roll Call rates the Senate race Likely Democratic. Shays said that if former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney were the GOP presidential nominee, that would have long coattails in Connecticut and make the race “competitive.”