More of Obama's slippery slope.

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 3:20 pm

Speaking of politics and strange actors... I got a kick out of this. From Newsweek.

Posted Friday, September 04, 2009 10:56 AM
Why Curt Schilling Could Win Teddy's Seat
Mark Starr

There were a lot of smirks adorning the faces of Bostonians yesterday morning, presumably a collective judgment on the revelation that retired Red Sox pitching ace Curt Schilling is contemplating a run for the late Teddy Kennedy’s Senate seat. Of course, those are probably many of the same folks who gave up the ghost back in 2004 when Schilling, bleeding team colors from an ankle tendon that had been stitched up in Rube Goldberg fashion, limped out to the mound against the New York Yankees in a desperate moment on Boston’s path to its first championship in 86 years. So could Schilling’s path to Washington and Congress be any more improbable than that?

It has long been assumed that Schilling, 42, with his outspoken activism including high-profile campaigns to raise money to fight ALS and to boost awareness of the dangers of skin cancer, harbored political ambitions. But most believed he would run for the Senate from Arizona, where he also pitched a team to a World Series title and where his strident conservatism and born-again faith would be more in fashion with voters than in the blue-state bastion of Massachusetts. But Arizona appears blocked, with Jon Kyl ensconced as Senate minority whip and John McCain showing no sign of wanting to retire to any of his homes. Massachusetts has the obvious virtue of an open seat with no obvious successor to Kennedy. So far Schilling has only allowed─on his popular blog, 38pitches.com─that he is considering the possibility of a Senate run, but that “many, many things would have to align themselves for that to truly happen.”

***

I'm all for it. And frankly if he DID run (which unfortunately he probably won't), he'd win on his popularity and a reputation of getting the job done when the pressure is on.

I wonder what you Massachusetts residents think of that.

- Bill

Gene DeMambro · Post by **Gene DeMambro** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 3:59 pm

We just give it a good shrug. We're more concerned about the shark sightings off Chatham right now. Curt wouldn't stand a chance.

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 4:05 pm

Gene DeMambro wrote:
Curt wouldn't stand a chance.

Why does Newsweek think differently?

Schilling possesses significant assets in what will be little more than a four-month campaign. Unless one of the Kennedys─most likely Teddy’s nephew, former congressman Joe Kennedy─wants to claim the family mantle, Schilling would be the biggest name in the race, and he has already established a legacy in the heart of Red Sox Nation that no other candidate can rival. Just by entering the race, he would challenge Sarah Palin’s status as the nation’s most prominent Alaska Republican. (Schilling is from Anchorage.) And he is both brighter (though he never graduated from college) and far more articulate than Palin, as well as exceptionally savvy about both traditional media and new technologies that enable him to reach his audience directly.

Nor is Schilling quite as mismatched with Massachusetts as its liberal reputation might suggest. The state has long boasted a prominent stripe of conservatism─Reagan carried the state in both 1980 and 1984─and before the current governor, Democrat Deval Patrick, four different Republicans, including Mitt Romney, held the office for 16 years.

And how do you explain this fellow's political career?

- Bill

Gene DeMambro · Post by **Gene DeMambro** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 4:50 pm

Newsweek has it wrong. Followers of Mass. politics are imminently aware of bigger names on the political scene than Curt. Around here, people see past the name - even the Kennedys. And his politics will be a detriment (unless he shows himself to be a Yankee conservative), and he's not the only one who can mobilize folks in the cyber-ether. All indications are he won't run anyway.

As for Mitt, remember Mitt served one term as governer, elected not to run again, is rightfully accused of flip-flopping his message throughout the years and continues to run away from his record here. When he announced his candidacy, he did it from Michigan (where his father was governor) and he barely won the state in the primary. As for Massachusetts having a string of Republican governors, remember those were all pro-choice, gay-rights Republicans, except for Mitt. These were all Yankee conservatives - fiscally conservative yet socially moderate or liberal), and not the bomb-throwing right-wingers the national party might like. The same weekend that Governor Mitt Romney was testifying in front of Congress for a Const. amendment banning gay marriage, former Gov. Bill Weld was officiating a gay marriage ceremony of a long time friend. When the national party accepts a Yankee conservative as a canididate, I might vote for him or her.

Gene

Gene DeMambro · Post by **Gene DeMambro** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 4:51 pm

And he is both brighter (though he never graduated from college) and far more articulate than Palin,

Wonder what that says about Sarah Palin....

Gene DeMambro · Post by **Gene DeMambro** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 4:55 pm

In the war over the culture of medicine—the war over whether our country’s anchor model will be Mayo or McAllen—the Mayo model is losing.

Worrysome, to say the least.

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 5:46 pm

Gene DeMambro wrote:
In the war over the culture of medicine—the war over whether our country’s anchor model will be Mayo or McAllen—the Mayo model is losing.
Worrysome, to say the least.

It is. But the trend can't go on forever, Gene. Something has to give.

Progress was made in the 1990s with managed care being driven by Fortune 500 companies. But then came the pre-2000 employee's market, and the subsequent HMO backlash.

Right now the pendulum has swung back to an employer's market, and people begging for something. So something will happen.

Still... no good trend. Yet.

- Bill

Rising Star · Post by **Rising Star** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:06 pm

Around here, people see past the name - even the Kennedys.

Gene, what kool aid have you been drinking? Most Massachusetts voters would/do drop on their knee pads should an exalted Kennedy (or Kennedy/Obama wannabe) say they are running for office. Please - been here all my life - perhaps longer than yours - and I know how Mass voters go. Of course, if we would separate Mass into an inside 128/outside 128 voting population things would be much different.

John

Jason Rees · Post by **Jason Rees** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:16 pm

Gene DeMambro wrote:
Wonder what that says about Sarah Palin....

It says his kids haven't been dissected, along with what books and magazines he reads, or how his experience prepares him to deal with Russia.

Palin's failures were mostly the failure of the campaign to prepare her properly for the intense questioning she was on the receiving end of.

Gene DeMambro · Post by **Gene DeMambro** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:48 am

Joe Kennedy isn't running. Still waiting on Curt, but the Massachusetts voter is much to intelligent and to savy to vote on name alone today.

Jason Rees · Post by **Jason Rees** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:02 am

lol. Party line, on the other hand... that's much better, right?

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:43 am

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks!"

I don't think Curt will run. But if he does, I want to make a public bet with Gene. Something... interesting.

- Bill

Gene DeMambro · Post by **Gene DeMambro** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:50 am

Case of good wine to you. What do I get in return?

Gene

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:56 am

Oh it's gotta be interesting, Gene. For instance in the show Mike and Mike in the Morning, Mike Golic - a former Notre Dame and NFL lineman - would be made to sing the fight song of his arch enemy on the air at the halftime of a nationally televised game.

Mike Greenberg - an OCD nerd - was made to milk a cow on the air.

I'm sure the peanut gallery here could nominate a few ideas for the two of us.

- Bill

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:10 pm

From The Arizona Republic

- Bill

Young: Why not Schilling in the Senate?

by Bob Young - Sept. 6, 2009 06:40 PM
The Arizona Republic

There is only one question folks in Massachusetts are asking these days; well, other than "Is Tom Brady's shoulder OK?"

It is "Will Curt Schilling throw his bloody sock into the ring?"

You may have heard that the former Diamondbacks star and hero of the Boston Red Sox's 2004 World Series victory reportedly has some interest in running for the Senate seat vacated by the late Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, who passed away at age 77.

Now, you might want to dismiss this as just another example of a former athlete thinking way too highly of his own self.

But, hey, a former actor is the governor of California - again.

The last former actor to hold that job ended up serving two terms as President.

Politics are strewn with former athletes and celebrities, from Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson - a former Suns great - to former major-league pitcher Jim Bunning (R-Kentucky), who has said he will not seek another term in the Senate.

If a former pro wrestler such as Jesse Ventura can be governor of Minnesota, as he once was, why not Schilling in the Senate?

Even comic Al Franken was elected to the Senate. The good folks of Minnesota decided he was good enough, smart enough and, doggone it, they liked him.

OK, so Massachusetts isn't Minnesota. In fact, a conservative hasn't held a Senate seat in Massachusetts since Edward Brooke in 1979. He wasn't a celebrity, although Barbara Walters wrote that she once had an affair with him, which TMZ.com would have been all over had it existed back then.

Anyway, we believe Schilling might have what it takes to be a legitimate threat:
When a television camera's red light is on, so is Schilling.

The dude always has something to say, and usually way too much. He is a filibuster waiting to happen.

He does not, as he pointed on in his blog, have a degree from an Ivy League school, although the Shadow Mountain High graduate did attend Yavapai College in Prescott.

We consider this to be a plus, not a minus.

Plus, we're pretty sure he has a Locker Room Lawyer diploma.

Although he stumped for George W. Bush in 2004 shortly after that World Series victory and then for Sen. John McCain in 2008, he technically is not a Republican as some have suggested. He's reportedly "un-enrolled," so he would have to run as an independent.

He initially said that he would not discuss a run because it would be "speculation on top of speculation."

Within days, however, he went on and on about his potential candidacy during an interview on Boston radio station WEEI-AM.

Political careers are built on flip flops like that.

During that radio interview he said the chances of his running are "slim to none." So, by "Dumb and Dumber" reasoning, he's saying there's a chance.

He sounds like a politician.

That's not just our opinion. It is part of the Congressional Record.

When Schilling appeared before Congress in 2005 to testify about steroid abuse in baseball, he nearly caused more ankle trauma with his backpedaling, and when Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-Vermont) asked him if he'd come back before Congress if baseball didn't do enough, Schilling called it a "hypothetical that isn't going to happen."

"You sound like a politician," Sanders observed.

Schilling blogged that he votes for a "team" rather than an individual, which is why he voted for Dubya as well as his father (in 1988), but also voted for Bill Clinton (1992, against the older Bush)

He noted, for instance, that he voted for the younger Bush because he likes Dick Cheney.
Ooh. Maybe he's not ready for this after all.