Does Teresa Heinz-Kerry Make You Feel Creepy?

She really is. Al Franken wrote about an encounter with her, as well. A real beast of a woman. I am sure her boys could do no wrong. She probably told off their teachers when the kids got in trouble.
I had a family like that in my neighborhood. The kids were the hellions of the block, and their mother would never acknowledge it, always defended them. Sickening.

<nodding>

I don't find Teresa objectionable, but I agree that she sends out a strange vibe.

Her constant public references to her ex-husband are strange. Especially when she describes him as "The love of my life."

Her almost OCD reaction to Edward's child sucking his thumb during the announcement of the NC Senator's selection as VP running mate was odd too. What's going to happen if the young lad picks his nose on the podium during the convention?

Who cares what kind of relationship she and her husband have as long as she isn't pulling his strings behind the curtain, and I've seen nothing to suggest that this is the case.

A First Lady who is a little kooky isn't necessarily a bad thing, providing she doesn't do or say anything to publicly embarrass her husband or the nation.

Hilary is the only First Lady in my memory (and I was born when Ike was in office) who was fair game while in the White House. When a candidate's wife is pitched as a co-president and it's pronounced that a vote for that candidate is like getting two for the price of one, the First Lady is wide open for political criticism. When her husband puts her in charge of a major policy initiative, he is asking for her to share the arrows as well as the applause.

Personally I think she had him over a barrel, and exacted a price for sticking with him in the glaring light of his numerous infidelities, but this is of limited relevance. No matter why he chose to share the office with her, he did. Perhaps this is why people voted for him. I appreciate a marriage where the wife is a strong intellectual influence on the husband (and visa versa), but if the wife is going to attempt to accrue political capital or public ego gratification through the exercise of this influence, she's made herself fair game for political hard ball.

There are all sorts of people of considerable power in Washington who are appointed and not elected. The fact that she wasn't elected to co-President isn't all that troublesome, providing she doesn't lay claim to the First Lady shield. To her credit, I don't think she ever did. It was far more her adoring followers who bitched about her treatment.

At the end of the day, could this "Your guy's wife is a dog - your guy's wife is a simp" exchange be more pathetically childish? What's next, Kerry's got a more manly dog than Bush, or Bush's hair is cooler than Kerry's?

PS: Initially the Bush as Chimp joke was pretty funny, but like any joke that's overplayed, it's lost its humor. Sort of like when people beat a TV commercial catch phrase into the ground ("Where's the beef?" "I can't believe I ate the whole thing? etc etc)

I'm sure that if a simpering little snot like Franken ever confronted my mother with smartasss criticism of me, he'd have walked away thinking there is more than one "real beast of a woman" in the world.

But then how can anyone doubt a Franken assessment? The only pundit I know of who is less biased than Franken is Ann Coulter.

He didn't "confront" her. She was mad at him and gave him the Cheney treatment, that's all. I don't doubt his story, and i can think of no reason why he would care to make up a mean story about somebody's mother!
It's not like he's a republican.

Teresa's convention speech
Did any of you watch Teresa Heinz Kerry's speech before the convention tonight. I thought she was wonderful. ---BBB

Posted on Tue, Jul. 27, 2004
Text of Teresa Heinz Kerry's Speech
Associated Press

A text of Teresa Heinz Kerry's speech, as prepared, to be delivered Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention:
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Thank you, Christopher. Your father would be proud of you and your brothers. I love you and all our family.

My name is Teresa Heinz Kerry. And by now I hope it will come as no surprise to anyone that I have something to say. And tonight, as I have done throughout this campaign I would like to speak to you from my heart.

Y a todos los Hispanos, los Latinos; a tous les Americains, Francais et Canadiens; a tutti Italiani; a toda a familia Portugesa e Brazileria; to all my continental African family living in this country, and to all new Americans: I invite you to join our conversation, and together with us work towards the noblest purpose of all: a free, good, and democratic society.

I am grateful for the opportunity to stand before you and say a few words about my husband, John Kerry, and why I firmly believe he should be the next president of the United States.

This is such a powerful moment for me. Like many other Americans, like many of you, and like even more of your parents and grandparents, I was not born in this country. As you have seen, I grew up in East Africa, in Mozambique, in a land that was then under a dictatorship.

My father, a wonderful, caring man who practiced medicine for 43 years, and taught me how to understand disease and wellness, only got the right to vote for the first time when he was 71 years old. That's what happens in dictatorships.

As a young woman, I attended Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, South Africa, which was then not segregated. But I witnessed the weight of apartheid everywhere around me. And so, with my fellow students we marched against its extension into higher education. This was the late 50s, the dawn of the civil rights marches in America.

As history records, our efforts in South Africa failed and the Higher Education Apartheid Act was passed. Apartheid tightened its ugly grip, the Sharpsville riots followed, and a short while later Nelson Mandela was arrested and sent to Robin Island.

I learned something then, and I believe it still. There is a value in taking a stand whether or not anyone may be noticing and whether or not it is a risky thing to do. And if even those who are in danger can raise their lonely voices, isn't more required of all of us, in this land where liberty had her birth?

I have a very personal feeling about how special America is, and I know how precious freedom is. It is a sacred gift, sanctified by those who have lived it and those who have died defending it. My right to speak my mind, to have a voice, to be what some have called "opinionated," is a right I deeply and profoundly cherish. My only hope is that, one day soon, women - who have all earned the right to their opinions - instead of being labeled opinionated, will be called smart or well-informed, just as men are.

Tonight I want to remember my mother's warmth, generosity, wisdom, and hopefulness, and thank her for all the sacrifices she made on our behalf, like so many other mothers.

This evening, I want to acknowledge and honor the women of this world, whose wise voices for much too long have been excluded and discounted. It is time for the world to hear women's voices, in full and at last.

In the past year, I have been privileged to meet with Americans all across this land. They voiced many different concerns, but one they all seemed to share was about America's role in the world - what we want this great country of ours to stand for.

To me, one of the best faces America has ever projected is the face of a Peace Corps volunteer. That face symbolizes this country: young, curious, brimming with idealism and hope - and a real, honest compassion. Those young people convey an idea of America that is all about - heart and creativity, generosity and confidence, a practical, can-do sense and a big, big smile.

For many generations of people around the globe, that is what America has represented. A symbol of hope, a beacon brightly lit by the optimism of its people - people coming from all over the world. Americans believed they could know all there is to know, build all there is to build, break down any barrier, tear down any wall. We sent men to the moon, and when that was not far enough, we sent Galileo to Jupiter, we sent Cassini to Saturn, and Hubble to touch the very edges of the universe at the very dawn of time. Americans showed the world what can happen when people believe in amazing possibilities.

And, that, for me, is the spirit of America - the America you and I are working for in this election. It is the America that people all across this nation want to restore - from Iowa to California, from Florida to Michigan, from Washington State to my home state of Pennsylvania.

It is the America the world wants to see, shining, hopeful, and bright once again. And that is the America that my husband John Kerry wants to lead.

John believes in a bright future. He believes we can, and we will, invent the technologies, new materials, and conservation methods of the future. He believes that alternative fuels will guarantee that not only will no American boy or girl go to war because of our dependence on foreign oil, but also that our economy will forever become independent of this need.

We can, and we will, create good, competitive, and sustainable jobs while still protecting the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the health of our children, because good environmental policy is good economics.

John believes that we can, and we will, give every family and every child access to affordable health care, a good education, and the tools to become self-reliant.

John Kerry believes we must, and we should, recognize the immense value of the caregivers in our country - those women and men who nurture and care for children, for elderly parents, for family members in need. These are the people who build and support our most valuable assets - our families. Isn't it time we began working to give parents more opportunity to be with their children, and to afford to have a family life?

With John Kerry as president, we can, and we will, protect our nation's security without sacrificing our civil liberties. In short, John believes we can, and we must, lead in the world - as America, unique among nations, always should - by showing the face, not of our fears, but of our hopes.

John is a fighter. He earned his medals the old-fashioned way, by putting his life on the line for his country. No one will defend this nation more vigorously than he will - and he will always be first in the line of fire.

But he also knows the importance of getting it right. For him, the names of too many friends inscribed in the cold stone of the Vietnam Memorial testify to the awful toll exacted by leaders who mistake stubbornness for strength.

That is why, as president, my husband will not fear disagreement or dissent. He believes that our voices - yours and mine - must be the voices of freedom. And if we do not speak, neither does she.

In America, the true patriots are those who dare speak truth to power. The truth we must speak now is that America has responsibilities that it is time for us to accept again.

With John Kerry as president, global climate change and other threats to the health of our planet will begin to be reversed. With John Kerry as president, the alliances that bind the community of nations and that truly make our country and the world a safer place, will be strengthened once more.

The Americans John and I have met in the course of this campaign all want America to provide hopeful leadership again. They want America to return to its moral bearings. It is not a moralistic America they seek, but a moral nation that understands and willingly shoulders its obligations; a moral nation that rejects thoughtless and greedy choices in favor of thoughtful and generous actions; a moral nation that leads through the power of its ideas and the power of its example.

We can and we should join together to make the most of this great gift we have been given, this gift of freedom, this gift of America. In his first inaugural, speaking to a nation on the eve of war, Abraham Lincoln said, "We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

Today, the better angels of our nature are just waiting to be summoned. We only require a leader who is willing to call on them, a leader willing to draw again on the mystic chords of our national memory and remind us of all that we, as a people, everyday leaders, can do; of all that we as a nation stand for and of all the immense possibility that still lies ahead.

I think I've found just the guy. I'm married to him. John Kerry will give us back our faith in America. He will restore our faith in ourselves and in the sense of limitless opportunity that has always been America's gift to the world. Together we will lift everyone up. We have to. It's possible. And you know what? It's the American thing to do. Goodnight and God bless.

good speach.

yes, but there is also a good transcipt:





full transcript

I must admit, I was just thinking up ketchup jokes the whole time she was speaking. She WAS wearing red, but she should have had at least one bottle on stage with her. Or perhaps a guy running around in a ketchup-bottle suit, shooting ketchup out of the top into the crowd. Or perhaps children dressed in red with baskets tossing out ketchup packets.

Anyway, I'm done with my bad jokes. I'm still going to vote for Kerry, but yes, his wife makes me feel a little weird.

Smog and others
Smog and others, what is it exactly about Teresa Heing Kerry that makes you feel "weird" about her? Her appearance, her voice, her accent, her money, her age, her intelligence, what she says, being a woman, etc.?

BBB

well, true: Mrs. Kerry sets her own agenda



full story

Ah, well, they wouldn't like me either.

Re: Smog and others

For me, it's mostly her money, her incredibly soft voice, her rather unique past, and the interesting way that she interacts with her husband in public.

I hope they continue letting Teresa be Teresa.

I don't think any wife of a candidate (who was not already elected) has been given a plush prime time spot--but I thought if I were the DNC, I would have done the same thing, because Kerry is desperately in need for someone to give a personal insight to the man. He has no warmth or favorable public response to him. He may as well just wear a sign around his neck, "I'm the guy who's not Bush, but nothing more."

So, I did expect Teresa would come out and paint a personal portrait of her husband...

But, she didn't mention his name until half the speech wsas over,and when she did--it was only tired reiterations of vague rhetoric. I personally felt she doesn't really know him. There was no warmth, no personal anecdote, no insight into their marriage. She hurt him.

They look more like a money grubbing Kerry, marrying an older decidedly eccentric woman, who's bidding he is bound to do. Husband for Hire. Her 'personality' makes one think he is her manservant.

I'm sure the Dems were disheartened to see what they have in her--and how their marriage is portrayed.

They should have put Obama in her spot. He is quite a strong, effective voice for them. Dean excited the crowd--she threw a cold blanket over it.

Boy, is Kerry in trouble.

Not true -- every first lady since I can remember has delivered a speech at the convention. Laura Bush was especially lackluster and Tipper wasn't much better. As far as eccentric, who can forget Mrs. Reagan? She's eccentric enough now to speak out in favor of stem cell research. I don't think she consulted an astrologist to prompt that stance.

As far as Teresa's looks, in the space below please post of picture of your 65 year old mother:

I'm not sure who you reference about her appearance. I think she looks great for her age--of course, money will do that for a person.

LW--you are arguing against a point I didn't make. Yes, First Ladies have spoken. Teresa is not a First Lady, and she recieved the prime time slot. Even considering this--I thought it was a good idea, because she would give some insight re her husband, which he sorely needed. But she rebuffed the opportunity to help him, and talked mostly about herself, and her views. When she finally mentioned her husband, it was generic rhetoric, rather than a wife's insight.

Didn't Laura talk about her husband? You have four of these prime-time slots during the Convention--one each night. My point is I don't think the wife of an unelected candidate has been given one of the prized prime-time slots, and used it for self-promotion, rather than use it to humanize and personalize their husband to the crowd.

I will guess that Teresa just did more for Hillary Clinton than she could possibly have hoped for.

I said first lady as an identification whether or not they were at the time. They eventually were.
I was slightly dissapointed that she did give more insight into Kerry's character and personality.

So I close by saying you certainly are opinionated! :wink:

(This does not conflict with the fact that Kerry has to show more of his personal side. Like Bush shows his personal side. Gawd forbid).

HEY!! Weeze wimmins are entitled to our opinions!

I did expect her to talk more about the personal qualities of her husband. I was disappointed that she spent so much time repeating sentiments already featured in Kerry ads, and reiterating the "rally the troops" phrases.

Discussing her own background and her own causes was fine. She took the opportunity to introduce herself to the public. But her speech was too long, and somewhat too meandering to hold an audience's attention. She needs a better speechwriter.

I find her to be a very interesting woman. Had she revealed more of her husband's complexities, and not just her own, she might have been able to effectively counter the charges that he flip flops. She missed that chance.

She is an interesting change from the typical, dutiful, political wife.