Schilling for Senate

There has been a move afoot spurred by radio station WEEI to get Curt Schilling to run as a Republican challenger in 2008 for the Massachusetts Senate seat currently held by John Kerry. I think this is a great idea.

John Kerry is very vulnerable and if a candidate with positive name recognition were to run against him - then Kerry would most likely lose (because that's what he does best). Since winning the Democratic Nomination by beating Jim Shannon in his original run for the Senate - Kerry hasn't faced any real competition in his quests for re-election to the Senate.

Curt Schilling helped bring a World Series Championship home to the Red Sox for the first time in 86 years. This will be his last season (he's retiring at the end of the year) and a move into politics couldn't be timed any better. Schilling is also known for his charitable causes like fighting against ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and skin cancer (his wife is a skin cancer survivor). On the campaign trail if Schilling just spent most of his time smiling, shaking hands and signing autographs - he'd be in. Kerry would almost certainly make a fatal gaff in his campaign. Just Kerry being Kerry and having the charisma of the tin man on Valium would be enough to get Schilling elected.

For Schilling to win - I would propose a three prong strategy:

1. Say "Yes I am a Republican but I am very much pro-union." He could talk about how he's been a dues paying member of the MLB Players Association for over a decade and how he recognizes the importance of collective bargaining. This would help make it easier for hard-core Democrats to vote for him on election day.

2. Stress that he'd show up for work to represent the people of Massachusetts every single day. That taking pay for a job that you never show up for is morally reprehensible. This would certainly have Kerry backtracking and on the defense. Schilling could stress that he'd show up every day to help protect and further the interests of the State of Massachusetts instead of skiing in Idaho or traveling to countries like France trying to get them to like us.

3. Stress low taxes. Low taxes give Democrats another reason to cross the aisle to vote for a Republican. Massachusetts is a dominantly Democratic state but when it comes to money - we like Republicans watching the purse strings (witness Republican Governors Weld, Cellucci and Romney).

The hardest part for Schilling would be to just shut up and let Kerry defeat himself. If Schilling followed the strategy set out above and just kept quiet about everything else - then he'd be sure to win.

Curt Schilling in 2008. He's got my vote.

EDIT: I stand corrected - it was WRKO and not WEEI who started the ball rolling.

You can sign a petition urging Schilling to run here.