Posted on 02/01/2007 6:08:27 PM PST by UCAL
On July 25, 2004, the Red Sox and Yankees tussled at Boston’s historic Fenway Park. The then-presumptive Democratic nominee for President was Massachusetts’ own John Kerry. On the campaign trail, Kerry had routinely professed to be a die-hard Sox fan, even though in an interview a month earlier he named as his all time favorite Sox player a man who never actually played for the Red Sox. In order to demonstrate his Ordinary Joe bona fides to a watchful and suspicious nation, Kerry made a splashy show of attending that evening’s game.
To celebrate Kerry’s rare mingling with the hoi polloi, Kerry’s handlers cooked up a typically misguided plan in which Kerry would toss out the ceremonial first pitch while an Army veteran who had just returned from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq served as his personal catcher. In so doing, Kerry would bask in the affection of his local fan base as well as honor America’s military.
The plan quickly went awry. Much to Team Kerry’s surprise, the putative local hero was greeted by more boos than cheers by the Fenway faithful. When the time came to toss the first pitch, Kerry embarrassed himself by weakly heaving up an anemic lob that barely made it two thirds of the way to the military man awaiting Kerry’s throw. As if all this weren’t bad enough, Kerry blamed his pathetic pitch on his catcher, the just-returned Iraq veteran. Kerry asserted, “I held back. He was very nervous. I tried to lob it gently.”
JOHN KERRY IS NOT POPULAR IN MASSACHUSETTS. Take it from a native – he never has been. We have a familiarity with him that the rest of the nation lacks. That familiarity has bred contempt. The above anecdote, from the boos that greeted him at Fenway Park to his churlish response to his own womanish throw illustrates both the fact that we don’t like him and why we don’t like him.
Perhaps you prefer your data in a harder form. If so, there’s this: John Kerry got a lower percentage of the presidential vote in Massachusetts than Al Gore did four years ago. What’s more, Kerry didn’t have Ralph Nader siphoning away votes from him the way Gore did. And if you think Kerry’s performance lagged behind Gore’s because Bay State residents had developed a fondness for President Bush and his Texas swagger during his four years in office, think again. The only explanation for Kerry’s poor performance in ’04 compared to Gore’s in his home state is because those who know Kerry best like him least.
Kerry is up for reelection in ’08. While the rest of the country has rolled its eyes over his post-presidential defeat behavior of botched jokes and photo-ops with Iranian leaders, the Massachusetts electorate has simmered. Ideologically, Kerry is in line with the Commonwealth’s voters, but we don’t like losers. We especially don’t like losers who disgrace our region by performing in an embarrassing fashion. After his presidential loss in 1988, then-Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis had the good sense to not seek reelection in 1990. It was just as well; after the way he had brought shame to the state while seeking national office, he couldn’t have been elected dog-catcher let alone governor.
ON THE OTHER HAND, MASSACHUSETTS LOVES WINNERS. And this is where Kerry might have a serious problem. Red Sox star pitcher and local legend Curt Schilling is reportedly pondering a run against Kerry in 2008.
What ever DID "Happen" to ..." THE BIGGGG DIGGGG !" ???
Anyone?? Hello??
Bueller??....Bueller?....
AMAZING!....just how hypocritical the media is about lambasting Republican/Conservative Governors, Senators, etc.. over say ; WISELY and FINALLY spending Tax Dollars on a Security Fense to PROTECT OUR BOARDERS!!..
..when Kerry's BIG DIG OVER-RUNS Alone could have paid for the fense twice over!!
Wonder if any "Challenger" to Kerry will bring THAT "Issue"
( 3 Billion $$$) Up!...let alone if the MEDIA would cover that being brought up anyhow!!
Any Mass. Freepers out there??
IS the Big Dig a Real thing?? or just a myth??
Kerry ( Who was a Vietnam war heor if you didn't already know) might as well Run for SOMETHING since T'RA'Sa Heinz Kerry if filing for divorce after the 2008 election!! Hahahaha!
Great post there UCAL! Good Sight!
Hmm, I wonder if this article is working on old info. I thought I heard just last week he was going to pitch for another season in 2008 instead. (And thus, not run)
he should move back to PA and set himself up tp run for Spector's seat
OK, if Curt Schilling isn't interested, is Roger Clemens a Republican?
Absolutely true. Every freeper in Massachusetts hates this outrageous pansy gigolo. But what happens is this:
Polling booths in Massachusetts are kept very dark. All the voters are kept very drunk. They stagger in, and in the dim light, they bend over and all they can read is the big,bold
This leads the obedient peasants to believe they are voting for one of the royal family
Or the Pope's
I don't know for 100%, but the indications are that he leans that way. The problem for anyone, famous or not, running as a Republican in MA is perilous because there isn't any real party to support them from a financial or on-the-ground GOTV standpoint. It's one of the most moribund of any state, bar none (and the most populous state with a non-competitive GOP minority).
That would rock. Lurch given a 100mph fast ball to the groin and out of politics for good.
"Then why does keep winning?"
Global warming. If their brains ever thaw out they will realize what they have done. Do you think the dumbocrats are really trying to save the plantet?
HALP US CURT, JON CARY IS A WHINY WANKER!!!
I read somewhere that he had already decided against a run, and that he's signed up for a few more years of baseball.
Go for it!
Kerry is "not popular" in Taxachusetts?
then how does he keep getting reelected?
by osmosis? LMAO
If I lived in the state I would vote fro him in a nano second.
Straight from this morning's Boston Globe - the question is asked by Dan Shaughnessy:
Will you run for the Senate?
"I don't have that much time. I've got a wife, four kids, a business, and a baseball career."
Because all 8 Republicans in Mass. are posting on here, not running for election.
But he'll vote for either John McCain or BARACK OBAMA?
I would love to see this happen.
Yes, I know a bit about it. Schilling said he was honored to be considered, but turned it down. The next day he said that he would not retire following the 2007 season and that he would like to sign a contract for 2008 before the 2007 season begins, or else would become a free agent. He will be pitching in the Majors in 2008, not running for the Senate.
Schilling is one of my favorite pitchers, and he's a conservative who campaigned for President Bush in 2004, but you should also know that he supports his "good friend" John McCain (Schilling lived in Arizona for years) for President, but that if Obama wins the Democrat nomination he would consider voting for Obama. I swear I'm not making it up.
"All you need to vote for Kerry is that big KY"
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