Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox tips hat to fans at Boston’s Fenway Park as he leaves in the sixth inning of Game Two of the World Series against the Colorado Rockies, October 25, 2007. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
by Jill Zuckman
Manchester, N.H. – When Sen. John McCain was a boy, Ted Williams, the Boston Red Sox hitting legend, was his hero.
And when he rides his campaign bus, McCain is notorious for incessantly flipping television channels until he finds the baseball game he is looking for.
Tonight, McCain will mix sports and politics at the Derryfield School Auditorium in Manchester when Curt Schilling, the Boston Red Sox pitcher, joins him on stage to take questions from voters.
McCain has been friends with Schilling since he was a pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Schilling has endorsed McCain for president. At the MySpace/MTV presidential forum the other day, McCain joked that the event is likely to be the biggest town hall meeting he’s ever held in the state.Whether it’s big or not, McCain aides are excited about the prospect of reaching voters who may never have attended a political event before.
“Having grown up in the Boston area, I consider myself typical of Red Sox fans and there will be a huge amount of people who come out to see Curt Schilling and that’s important because it’s a different, unique way to bring people out to a town hall meeting who wouldn’t normally come,” said Michael Dennehy, McCain’s political director. “It’s a different to reach voters in a compelling way.”
Said Jill Hazelbaker of the McCain campaign: “We’re thrilled with Schilling’s endorsement — and we hope his post season magic rubs off on us!”