The first time I called Bill Lee, the enigmatic former Red Sox pitcher and newest Vermont gubernatorial candidate didn’t answer, but his voicemail painted an optimistic picture for his campaign.

“Hi, you’ve reached the residence of Gov. Lee. I am outside (BS-ing) other constituents. I can’t come to the phone right now, but leave a message and I’ll get back to you in November.”

When he called back, I got the Spaceman’s full platform, which includes erasing all borders and Vermont essentially seceding from the union, joining parts of southern Canada to “form our own little country” because “we ain’t taking Donald Trump, and I don’t think we want Hillary either.”

This country, he said, would have free health care and its own Olympics where the athletes compete naked — an idea he said came from seeing four Swedish girls on roller skates in his hometown of Craftsbury, Vt.

Lee, 69, is backed by the Liberty Union Party — where another plucky Vermont underdog named Bernie Sanders got his start before becoming an independent — and swears he’s serious about going all the way to the State House in Montpelier.

“I am the best candidate,” he said. “I am a liberal with a gun. I have more guns than the NRA. I am so far left, I’m right.”

Another goal for Lee, who finished his career with the Expos, is getting an American League East team in Montreal. He promised to “pick up the Red Sox fans and shake them by their ankles so their money falls out” when they drive through Vermont to go to the games.

Lee boasts a proud political pedigree: he says he’s related to the Hunt family of Vermont, a lineage that includes a former lieutenant governor and a congressman. He decided to run after reading “Plato’s Republic” and, like Socrates, he said he feels like he is drinking hemlock because since he announced, “the damn phone keeps ringing.”

The phone line beeped during our call and Lee said it was Ron Turcotte on the other line — the man who rode Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973 and who used to provide Lee with special anti-inflammatory drugs used on horses before he pitched.

“That is an omen,” Lee said. “I stayed on with the Herald and didn’t take a call from Secretariat’s pilot, this is awesome.”

Now that he’s launched his campaign, he said he’d meet with his “big donors” from Stowe, but he’s not taking any campaign contributions.

“All I want them to do is put up yard signs that say ‘Lee for Governor’, no commercials,” he said.

I asked Lee what his message to the voters would be.

“You’re on your own, get back to work,” he said. “Call me if you’ve got any problems and we will work it out. Work hard and you won’t have any problems.”