Teresa Heinz comments on Dean, Clark & her husband's sagging poll #s

[pruner]

"I think Dean is to be commended for having this smart young man from Utah to develop a Web site. I think his tapping on the anger of a lot of young people, I think, was very gratuitous for him. He deserves his kudos. With that said, it is one thing to be appealing, it is another thing to govern," said Kerry.

Kerry offered thoughts on Clark, too.

"Gen. Clark certainly knows how to make war very well, but he is not a diplomat."

Kerry insisted her husband has time to pull ahead and win the New Hampshire primary. She blamed his low poll ratings on the lack of television ads most of the summer, unlike Dean who was on the air.

"John didn't do anything different. He didn't change positions over the summer -- he just wasn't on the air, so, smart move, right?" said Kerry.

<snip>

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/politics/2653983/detail.html

[Lefta Dissenter]

1. Yikes

She's sounding a little defensive, wouldn't you say? She doesn't sound very first-ladylike!

[AmericanDem]

3. yes

kinda sound worried about clark from what i read.

[blm]

4. Clark and Kerry are pretty good friends

and have been for a long time. I don't think they have it out for each other at ALL. In fact, it was Clark who backed up Kerry when he testified to allow gays to serve openly in the military. Few came forward then to support Kerry on that. Clark did.

[Bread and Circus]

39. Wow, I didn't know that....

I think Kerry could have a little more class than
saying some of the stuff he does.

I am also surprised by his wife's comments. If Gert was
bagging on the other candidates, I don't think I'd like
it.

Bag on Bush, Yes! Bag on other dems, No!

[Eloriel]

14. There was an article about her months ago

and it mentioned her botox treatments and I think there was another "Therese Heinz is really entertaining" remark --

No, she's NOT very first-lady-like. You can take that to the bank. Personally, I think she's a twit. The botox treatments were all I needed to know.

Eloriel

[NewYorkerfromMass]

19. and your reaction to her botox treatments were all I needed to know....

If you have the time and money she has I don't see a problem with making an aesthetic investment.

[Scott Lee]

23. "we won't always have the smoothest skin in the world"

no one who says that can win an election.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

25. No, no, no. It was: "We won't always have the strongest military"

Dean- Wrong for America's Defense

[Scott Lee]

30. And it's still the truth. Hurts, doesnt it?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

62. When Dean is rejected by 60% of Americans for that comment

don't say I didn't warn you... several hundred times.

[cally]

27. Teresa Heinz Kerry

has done extensive charity work and helped some truly progressive causes. I doubt few, if any, of national pols or their spouses have not had some plastic surgery. To me that is just not an issue. I like and respect Teresa Heinz Kerry. She seems like a decent, outspoken, funny woman.

Her comments here seem very defensive.

[no_arbusto]

29. She is a decent person

Her ex-husband, the late John Heinz, is also one of the few Republicans that I can respect. Heinz was respected by both parties prior to his untimely death. The Heinz Endowment has also done so much for the city of Pittsburgh by funding the arts and urban revitalization efforts among other things. You won't find too many people in the Pittsburgh area who will have anything bad to say about the Heinz family. We've got Heinz Field, Heinz Hall, the Heinz School at Pitt, and the Senator John Heinz Regional History Center, not to mention the Heinz coporation that employs many people. We aren't so kind when it comes to Dick Mellon Scaife, however.

[SahaleArm]

40. Dick Mellon Scaife is an idiot.

Carnegie-Mellon was in part founded and funded by Sciafe's forefathers: Andrew Mellon, William Larimer Mellon, and Richard K. Mellon.

Andrew Mellon: http://www.mellon.org/
Richard K. Mellon: http://fdncenter.org/grantmaker/rkmellon/

Dick Mellon Scaife: http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/04/27/scaife.profile/

[Field Of Dreams]

16. Yes...

Methinks there is too much vinegar in her ketchup. :eyes:

[Malikshah]

41. Actually sounds quite first-ladylike...

If that first-lady has a penchant for wearing blue, a string of pearls, and has snowy white hair...sound familiar? Here's another hint. She might have had a thyroid problem in the past...

[blm]

2. I agree...Kerry should have gone on the air earlier.

I also think that HOW one governs SHOULD matter. If someone is running completely differently than the way they governed that should set off alarms with any political person concerned with good solid governance.

[sandnsea]

5. Do you get paid for this?

You must make it your life's work to find the worst possible articles with the worst possible slant and quotes to post against Kerry. Or are you part of some bizarre mailing list that just blasts Kerry articles for all of you to post around the net?

:crazy:

[pruner]

7. don't blame the messenger…

Kerry's wife is the one who said these things… not me.

maybe you oughta write her a letter and tell her to shut up if you don't like what she has to say.

[molly]

10. Teresa Heinz-Kerry is one helluva lady - someone

that should be a role model for all young women instead of that subservient wimp we having serving as first lady. Ms Heinz-Kerry says exactly what she thinks - much like her husband.

[pruner]

11. don't tell it to me… I've got no problem with what she said

sandsnsea is the one who seems to be bothered by it.

[Eloriel]

15. Yes, when you're wealthy enough you can get away with that

And in general, I support speaking one's mind. However, it's helpful not to be a twit when one does that.

Eloriel

[blm]

12. I think she has a great mind and expresses herself openly

because she has great faith in people and that they will hear her and care not one whit how partisans will try to find something bad in her words.

[Scott Lee]

24. but hasn't she flip flopped on skin treatments?

Just wondering.

[blm]

47. No you're not, you're just being mean-spirited towards Teresa

for no other reason than she speaks openly about things that most people don't. You want to mock her, go ahead, it speaks more about you than your target.

[Hep]

48. Irony revisited!

If anyone knows about "just being mean spirited" it's you. I defer to your expertise on this one.

[blm]

49. You won't find one mean-spiruted comment about a candidate's wife

from me. I stick to the POLITICAL arena where the candidate's should be fairly judged on their own political actions and words.

[Hep]

50. Yeah you just bash candidates and their supporters.

Much better. You should be proud of the distinction.

[blm]

55. I only point out Dean's political deficiencies.

And that SOME of his supporters have fallen for the media spin that Dean is an antiwar liberal..

If you don't see yourself in that description that's fine. There are others who fit it totally.

No other candidate has been as inconsistent or as damaging to the Democratic party as Dean. No other candidate started attacking the others as far back as Jan. 23. No other candidate gets grief from me. I know their records are based in Democratic party values that are genuinely more liberal than Dean's record.

Why did you make up that false claim that I "bash candidates and their supporters" when I have only posted against Dean's deficiencies and some of the media believers who support him? I have defended the other candidates for months against the onslaught from Dean and some of his more vicious supporters.

[Scott Lee]

51. Well since you're such a foe of "flip flopping", I thought this was fair

Or have you changed your mind on it now that The Grand Duchess of the Heinz Fortune has spoken?

[blm]

57. Your post doesn't make sense. Why attack Teresa as a "flip-flopper"

on skincare? What does that have to do with Dean switching serious policy positions? The fact that you equate the two as an excuse for what you posted is more disturbing.

[Scott Lee]

60. Perhaps to show you that sometimes "flip flopping" doesn't matter?

You seem to have this synaptic allergy to changing your mind on an issue. You and the other Dean bashers call it "flip flopping" because that is the current in vogue terminology in politics. The problem is, it stinks. It's dishonest and implies that a candidate is lying or stupid.

Neither is the case with Dean. You simply cannot stand that he was elected many times by liberal Vermont, was a popular governor and now a Democratic frontrunner for the office of president. Did you ever consider that being able to change his mind based on new information is the mark of a real progressive? A real liberal?

Of course you haven't. You're too busy right now thinking up a response rather than comprehending this one.

[sandnsea]

32. I love her to pieces

She can say any damn thing she wants as long as it's true and she doesn't change her mind two seconds later. And as long as it doesn't have the potential to cause an international incident like, 'hamas are soliders'.

[Cha]

21. Since you brought this up.. it rings a bell with me

that there are some who make it their "life's work" to bring up every article out of the woodwork against Dean. Not so much fun when it's your guy.

But this happens to be from teresa heinz so it's not just some obscure piece of recent non supporter.

[kiahzero]

6. Re: Clark

"Gen. Clark certainly knows how to make war very well, but he is not a diplomat."

I guess she's not familiar with the nature of being SACEUR, then. It's a very diplomatic position.

[democratreformed]

8. I guess

she hasn't read his book detailing all his diplomatic efforts either.

[AmericanDem]

9. it sure is

they way it was quoted , does imply negatives towards Clark

[tsipple]

13. Point of Clarification

I think his tapping on the anger of a lot of young people, I think, was very gratuitous for him.

Doesn't she mean "fortuitous"? I wonder if she's being misquoted.

Now, to editorialize for a moment, why does Kerry's campaign(*) so often strike me as condescending? As if I'm standing up and still only see nostril bottoms ten feet above me?

(*) Yes, I realize it's Teresa speaking here. I'm assuming she's speaking for the campaign, but I can't be 100% sure.

[madfloridian]

18. The video said "gratuitous"

n/t

[Jacobin]

28. She's a dingbat....using words she doesn't understand

[Scott Lee]

31. She doesn't have to understand. She's an heiress.

Please use the service entrance.

[blm]

35. She speaks 5 languages, worked at the UN,

and grew up in Mozambique caring for the poor with her doctor father. She specializes in preventive healthcare measures for the poor and funds those clinics. She also funds most of the environmental groups and has done so for years.

[SahaleArm]

43. Using the facts won't help convincing the drones

Although I still take umbrage at her swipe at Clark's dimplomatic skills.

[blm]

44. I'm not quite certain that short sentence is all she said.

The reporter could have left out any tempering thoughts and kept the more sensational quote. I dunno. She speaks her mind, but, she's not a rude person at all, so it just seems too abrupt for her.

[Scott Lee]

52. Ah, a petite bourgeois liberal. I've met a few of them.

They usually arrive in the limousines, have photographers around to capture the moment, and are whisked away before they get too dirty. They like saving the whales from the comfortability of their Victorian libraries, in the comforts of their trust funds and fortunes.

And lastly, the Statists love them. They are money and control.

[blm]

58. Yes, while working with the sick and poor in Africa for years

she did so from the comfort of her limousine.

Your attacks on her are sickening.

[Scott Lee]

61. You might want to check your incessant attacks on Dean as "sickening"

before you go trying to pick motes out of the eyes of others.

[madfloridian]

26. Did you check the video?

You are right that fortuitous would fit, but the video does not say that. At least I did not think so. I was going to add this to my other post, forgot until it was too late to edit.

[madfloridian]

17. Gratuitous, meaning of.

I think this is a little uncalled for myself.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Gratuitous

Gra`tu´i`tous
Adj. 1. gratuitous - without cause; "a gratuitous insult"
unmerited - not merited or deserved; "received an unmerited honorary degree"
2. gratuitous - costing nothing; "complimentary tickets"
costless, gratis, complimentary, free
unpaid - not paid; "unpaid wages"; "an unpaid bill"
3. gratuitous - unnecessary and unwarranted; "a strikers' tent camp...was burned with needless loss of life"
needless, uncalled-for
unnecessary, unneeded - not necessary

I thought what she said about Clark was even worse. That did not impress me.

[dsc]

20. I really don't care

She has a right to her opinion. It is irrelevent to Kerry and his fitness for office.

[madfloridian]

22. I don't mind as much what she said about Dean, but she insulted Clark.

She was stating campaign realities in talking of Dean, though it could have been said more nicely.

Did you hear the video? That was awful of her to say about Clark.

[roguevalley]

42. Unfortunately it does relate to his campaign and his office run. That is

the sorry part of this. You are hung by your relatives. Anyone
forget Billy Carter and Roger Clinton? Let's be at least open to
the fact, even if you don't like it. I don't either but that is
the way the game is played. She will hurt, rather than help him
with a lot of people he needs.

[ibegurpard]

33. I am now waiting for the wrath of all the clarkies to come full bear

upon Ms. Heinz-Kerry. :evilgrin:

[Renew Deal]

37. I don't think they take this too seriously.

She is a joke and so is her comment. Why is the whole Kerry family on TV. I see his kids on more than I see him. Whatever :eyes:

[mzmolly]

34. Since nobody said it....

DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN DEAN.....................

[mb7588a]

36. You go girl!

:loveya:

[Renew Deal]

38. She should go

She should go right to the Kleenex aisle because JK is going gto have an early exit. We don't need some candidates better half running her mouth and lying. Her comment on Dean was uncalled for and Clark was a LIE.

[NicoleM]

45. I have no opinion on Teresa Heinz but

I think perhaps we should keep in mind that her son is a member of this board. I don't think people have to like Teresa Heinz because of that, but you might think twice about saying gratuitously mean things about her.

[madfloridian]

46. Uh, I posted the meaning of gratuituous. So I should not do that?

She used the word, I posted the meaning. I said it was ok, as she was referring to campaign tactics with Dean......and I agree that all candidates are fair game there.

I questioned what she said about Clark more....that he only knows about war. I did not like that, and last I heard I was allowed to say so.

I was not ugly, and I was not rude. Dean supporters here are always told to lighten up, get tough, quit whining, and we are told to take what comes. I think that should hold true for everyone.

To clarify, I am a Dean supporter taking up for Clark.

[NicoleM]

59. Not that.

Things like "dingbat" and "twit." I was replying to the thread generally, not you specifically.

I used the word "gratuitously" because I couldn't think of a better one at the time. Pregnant=dumb, at least in my case. :)

[eileen_d]

53. She's right about Dean, wrong about Clark.

Two cents duly deposited.

[pasadenaboy]

54. I guess they haven't accomplished as much as Ms. Heinz

Maybe she should explain her diplomat husband's vote for the Iraq war resolution.

Obviously he understands diplomacy better than all of us who opposed the war resolution.

Give me a break.

[killbotfactory]

56. Does she have any grey poupon...

to go with her sour grapes?