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Former Red Sox ace Curt Schilling won't rule out making run at Ted Kennedy's Senate seat

By Julian Garcia
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Updated Thursday, September 3rd 2009, 5:00 PM


McNamee/Pool
Ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling testifies in 2005 before a House Committee hearing investigating steroid use in baseball.


Though the chances of him running are "slim to none," former Red Sox ace Curt Schilling said Thursday that he will not rule out making a bid for the Senate seat that was vacated when Ted Kennedy died last week.
During one of his regular appearances on Boston radio station WEEI-AM, the 42-year-old outspoken conservative said that Massachusetts is in "desperate" need of new political blood.

"This state, next to Illinois, is probably looked on as one of the most corrupt, laughable political scenes in the nation, and it should be just the opposite," said Schilling, who since retiring from baseball last March has spent time with his family and worked on his fledgling video game company, 38 Studios.

"I think there's so much broke here ... I don't think you'd have to look very hard to pick up the pieces of debris and start to reform and fix it," he added.
Schilling won three World Series during his baseball career but has no political experience. However, he hinted that he'd be the perfect candidate for the job, noting that, "My credentials are that I have no baggage."

Reaction to the possibility of a Schilling senate run has been mostly positive in Boston. In a Boston.com poll asking readers to name who should succeed Kennedy, Schilling took a commanding lead, nearly seven percentage points ahead of Joe Kennedy II.

Kennedy died from a brain tumor last week at the age of 77. A primary is scheduled for Dec. 8, with a general election to be held on Jan. 19.
Schilling said he would have to make a decision "in relatively short order." He has campaigned for the Republican party but would have to run as an independent because of his "unenrolled" voter status.

"If he runs, good luck," Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis said Wednesday. "I don't know if I'd want to do that job."
Red Sox manager Terry Francona gave Schilling his blessing but added that, "I don't think he'd want me as his campaign manager."
Schilling, who has never shied away from controversy, told the radio station that, "The status quo sucks. The status quo is not working."
"The person that works 9-to-5 for crap dollars gets spat on, and it's becoming a state that's next to impossible to live and prosper in, and I think it was anything but when it was founded," Schilling said.

With News Wire Services