Kerry arrives in Boston early

BOSTON - It’s not exactly President Bush’s surprise flight to Baghdad before Thanksgiving, but John Kerry redirected his flight tonight to Boston to catch the Red Sox-Yankees Game at Fenway Park and to add a little excitement to the Democratic nominating convention that begins tomorrow.

“We’re going to the Yankees-Red Sox game. Right now. This is true,” Mr. Kerry told reporters on his campaign plane, telling them he couldn’t stand to miss a crucial game between the die-hard rivals.

Like most candidates, Mr. Kerry was planning to avoid the convention until his acceptance speech on Thursday. But the prospect of the game, and of adding some buzz to the week, caused him to make a temporary diversion from Ohio to Boston, rather than head straight to Florida where he is scheduled to campaign tomorrow.

“It’s a wonderful rivalry. The idea of missing a Yankees - Red Sox series right before a convention is unacceptable. So we changed the policy,” he said.

The boos about equaled the applause when Mr. Kerry was introduced at the game and it’s still unclear what the surprise visit will do to his support in New York.

During the primary season, Mr. Kerry stayed as far as possible from South Carolina on Super Bowl weekend as his hometown New England Patriots played the Carolina Panthers for the NFL championship.

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