Kerry's email to help a Red Sox player win a slot in the all star game

[karynnj]

Apparently, our favorite Senator sent out an email on this (we did get one). Although I have mixed feelings on his doing this - I just voted 25 times for the Red Sox guy and a random guy in the other league.
John Kerry gets out a swift vote campaign for Kevin Youkilis

Nick Swisher(notes) might have used the power of his 1.2 million Twitter followers and a special hashtag to gain an early lead in the vote for the American League's final All-Star spot, but will it be enough to ward off the influence of a former presidential candidate?

Not if Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) has anything to say about it.

Namely, using his sizable email list to make sure that Boston Red Sox star Kevin Youkilis(notes) has a chance to compete with Minnesota's Justin Morneau(notes) and Detroit's Miguel Cabrera(notes) for some playing time at first base in Anaheim next week.

And it actually might be working, as it was just announced that Youk has taken the lead.

The email:

Hello ,

Hope you had a terrific Fourth of July — and I hope you'll afford me what the Senate calls a "point of personal privilege." All 3 million of you in the johnkerry.com community have done incredible work these last seven years on some of the biggest fights of our lives. This isn't one of them. But it's not small potatoes either if you're a Red Sox fan. (If you're a Yankees fan, read no further.)

Kevin Youkilis of the Red Sox is an All Star in anyone's book. He plays the game the way it's supposed to be played, he hustles, he has a great bat and a glove to match, and he brings with it the kind of intensity we respected for years in guys like Trot Nixon(notes). Youk deserves to be in the All-Star game -- while the team has grinded it out in spite of injury after injury, he's been a rock. But now he needs to win a fan vote to make it to Anaheim next week.

You can vote for him by clicking here.

The stakes are also just a little personal: in the fan voting, currently Nick Swisher of the Yankees is in first place. Swisher's having a fine year, but Youk is better in just about every category, batting average, slugging, homeruns, everything and he plays Gold Glove defense to boot. Please don't let anyone say that Swisher beat Youkilis because Sox fans have gone a little soft after '04 and '07. Let's show we're still the most ravenous fans in baseball.

Please vote Youkilis in.

Thanks,
JK

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/John-Kerry-gets-out-a-swift-vote-campaign-for-Ke?urn=mlb,253999

Here is the link to vote - the Yankee is ahead now.


http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2010/fv/ballot_pop.html

[Luftmensch067]

1. I kind of had mixed feelings, too

And I've only voted once (so far!) Personally, I think JK's sports fanaticism is kind of adorable and certainly in keeping with the fervor of his Boston and possibly MA constituency. But I was a little unsettled by his sending this out to his political mailing list. No real harm, though, and the people who are trying to make something out of it are really reaching! Luckily, there haven't been too many of them.

[Luftmensch067]

2. However, there's a fairly spectacular photo at the Politico site!

Kind of takes any sting out of it as far as I'm concerned!!! :-)
http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1007/kerry_launches_sox_campaign.html

[karynnj]

4. Great picture - as was the one on the other site with Kerry wearing a Red Sox hat

[Luftmensch067]

5. Link?

I must have missed that!

[karynnj]

8. Here you go -

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/John-Kerry-gets-out-a-swift-vote-campaign-for-Ke?urn=mlb,253999

Great photo

[Luftmensch067]

13. Thanks!

It really is! Anyone who doubts the sincerity of his Red Sox fervor should just take a look at his face when he's wearing a Red Sox cap. :-)

[karynnj]

3. I would imagine the few people I saw making negative remarks

would have been ga ga had Senator Brown done so.

I figured I'd vote just because I would rather it look like he had an impact - which he likely did. (The fact that the article spoke of the Yankee guy having a twitter list of over 1 million suggests that otherwise no one else would have any chance. Unlike Kerry's list they are all likely big baseball fans - and there were 4 days when you could vote 25 times each. It is actually surprising that when Kerry's list was sent, the Red Sox guy was actually ahead briefly.)

[Luftmensch067]

6. You're certainly right about the double standard!

Can you imagine?!

Also, thanks for the added info -- clearly I haven't read that article yet!

[Luftmensch067]

12. After reading what you wrote, I understood the situation better

And went back and voted a bunch more times before 4! Guess they're announcing it at 6. It made me remember all those idiotic online polls we used to vote in during 2004 -- when we'd all alert everyone we knew to go and click on the JK-friendly radio button. Sigh.

[MBS]

7. you can vote until 4 pm Eastern. .

just saying. : )

[beachmom]

9. I think this has as much to do with JK's Chief of Staff as the Senator himself.

Remember David Wade wanted to be the president of the Red Sox fan club a couple of years ago.

Meh. I can't even pretend to be interested in sports, and will skip this. Sorry, John and David.

Edit: Just to clarify my indifference, it is really annoying following Washington DC reporters when they suddenly feel the urge to comment on sports. I mean who cares? If I wanted to hear about a game on TV, I would follow an ESPN writer, not a White House Correspondent. I just feel like politicians and reporters are basically geeks, so they overdo their interest in sports to show how "cool" or "macho" they are. I'm not saying they aren't sincere, just that they are very calculated in cultivating their image by throwing out some sports punditry. Women reporters/bloggers also love to chime in to show how really, they're just "one of the guys". Ugh. And if it was just about small talk, they would comment on culture/music/books/food, etc. as well. But no, the only thing Chuck Todd discusses besides politics is sports. BORING.

Double Edit: Actually, sports are a lot like politics to these DC types. It's a competition, there are winners and losers, it's a GAME. So now I am doubly annoyed reading those useless sports tweets from inside the beltway journalists.

[karynnj]

11. Good points

It would be far cooler if Kerry tweeted about music, a play that he and Teresa saw, or a (MA) restaurant or culinary product. It is rather strange reading a tweet on baseball when you know from the time that he was at a serious SFRC hearing - and likely not typing on his blackberry about sports!

[beachmom]

14. Of course, he got in trouble in '04 for mispronouncing sports players' names.

That actually made me like him better. Unfortunately, he apparently really IS a Boston Red Sox fanatic. It's not an act just for voters (although, it's like believing in God and wearing a suit; he has no choice but being a Red Sox fan in order to keep his seat in MA). But I like the other sides to him better like playing guitar and writing goofy poems. And, of course, athletics -- you know, actually doing it instead of just talking about it.

And apologies to Tay and the other Red Sox Massholes. It's just the sports talk crowds out everything else ...

[Luftmensch067]

15. You know what, Beachmom?

I used to feel as you do. I just couldn't understand why apparently intelligent adults would get so worked up over sports. I guess I still feel that way to some extent, but I number enough members of Red Sox Nation among my nearest and dearest now that I find their crazy love charming and adorable.

Having observed other Red Sox fans here, I can tell you that I'm convinced that as far as JK is concerned, no way is it an act just for voters, you better believe it. I don't know the first thing about baseball and couldn't care less, but I've learned to accept that this really is in people's blood. If you lived here and saw the people on the subway of every conceivable age, gender and race proudly wearing their Red Sox caps and sweatshirts, you might end up feeling the same way I do. Or not.

[MBS]

16. seeing that photo (thanks, karynnj) of JK coming out of the

dugout, holding THK's hand, on his way to making the first pitch. . there's no doubt in my mind that that was a great and joyful moment for him. One really nice thing is that he is genuinely an athlete. . not just a couch-potato observer.

FYI, Swisher got the place, not Youklis. BOO : (

[beachmom]

22. I think you have a point that when you are hanging out with people

who are really into it it is contagious. But I only have neighbors and acquaintenances who are into sports (mostly Georgia teams fans and, ahem, New York Yankees fans), but since it's just passing remarks I hear, I'm not into it. But yeah, if I had a good friend here who wanted to gush about the Atlanta Braves, I am sure the enthusiasm would rub off. I kind of like the Georgia fans (Univ. of Georgia) because they really have the merchandise to back up their fandom. But, of course, I hate the New Yorker Yankees and roll my eyes at THOSE fans. So I suppose growing up a 1/2 mile from the Mass. did have some effects on me. :) I may not be in love with the Red Sox, but man do I hate the NY Yankees.

[Luftmensch067]

23. Yep!

That's what I mean, exactly. :-)

[YvonneCa]

10. I got it too. It made me ...

...laugh. With all that's going on...typical guy-stuff. :7

I voted for the Red Sox guy and the SD Padre... ;)

[Luftmensch067]

17. Looks like Swisher won

I found an article saying it was a very close race, but can't find actual numbers yet.

Edited to add: NESN is philosophical --
"Statistically, Youkilis deserved the honor with a batting average (.297), homerun total (17), and RBI total (55) all higher than Swisher. But considering he is still nursing a small ankle injury the extra time off will probably be better."

http://www.nesn.com/2010/07/kevin-youkilis-just-barely-loses-allstar-game-final-vote-to-nick-swisher-in-closest-vote-ever.html

[karynnj]

19. I read the whole thing and searched the site - no numbers

They also said there were a lot of Red Sox already going.

[karynnj]

18. The closest finish ever, but the Yankee won

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100708&content_id=12077106&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Apparently he had Michael Bloomberg, Ivanka Trump, and Jessica Alba all pushing people to vote for him. That and his own 1.2 million twitter fans. (He sent out another message this morning.)

Now, imagine what Matt Viser would write tomorrow had Brown posted pleas on twitter and facebook - and Kerry didn't - and this was the result. (Just checked both - and he was MIA)

[wisteria]

20. I took it as all in good fun. I voted too. n/t

[sandrakae]

21. This is just John Kerry being a regular guy. Not a Senator.

I don't know what the big deal is. This is just John Kerry being a regular guy. Not a Senator. Everybody does this sort of thing. My friend recently used her email list and her facebook to help her Dog TJ to win a photo contest in Newspaper. He just has a bigger email list.

[ObamaKerryDem]

24. I agree. I think it's fun and harmless..

And even though I personally could care less about baseball (or most other sports, lol) outside of this, I went ahead and voted for the guy anyway. :)