Amidst the usual sights outside Fenway Park this afternoon (sausage stands, souvenir shops packed to the gills with baseball caps, guys on wooden blocks hocking programs) was something a little out of the ordinary: Campaign signs for Democratic candidate for Senate, U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch. And plenty of them.
As it turns out, the current eighth district congressman’s supporters were simply seeding the ground for a visit from the candidate himself, who showed up about an hour before game time (in a suit and Red Sox tie) to take in some afternoon sun, shake hands and grab a sausage.
It’s not a surprise that Lynch would make an appearance at Fenway today, given the news that billionaire California hedge-fund executive - and fellow Democrat - Thomas F. Steyer had funded a plane that would circle the skies above the ballpark, dragging a banner that reads “Steve Lynch for Oil Evil Empire.”
“It’s hilarious” Lynch said. “It is like an Austin powers movie. This guy is Dr. Evil. He’s got a billion dollars and he’s coming after me, I don’t know why.”
The “why” is that Lynch has failed to oppose the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Last month, Steyer warned he would launch a campaign to defeat Lynch’s in his bid for the senate if Lynch didn’t come out in opposition to the proposed 875-mile crude oil pipeline that would run from the Canadian border to Steele City, Nebraska.
Lynch scoffed at the notion he was weak on environmental issues, “I’ve got a 94 percent voting record with the environmentalists and they’re painting me as the bad guy.”
As they say, that’s politics. Lynch agreed.
“If my opponent was a vegetarian, he’d have to paint me as a cannibal,” Lynch said. “But I guess that’s politics today. I don’t pay much attention to it and I don’t take it seriously.”
Maybe not, but he did take the time to show up, even though he didn’t have the time to go to the game.
“I have to leave early and you know if you go into the game and leave early not only does everybody boo you, but you bring the Sox bad luck,” he said.
