posted on August 19, 2004 05:55:12 PM
WOULD-BE first lady Teresa Heinz Kerry reinforced her reputation for telling it like it is yesterday by admitting her husband was not qualified for the Oval Office.
"I think nobody is truly qualified to be president of the United States," she said in an interview with Reader's Digest.
"I mean, are you qualified to run the world ... not run it, but have that influence? No, nobody is."
It was another example of the plain speaking that has become her trademark, and a possible liability for John Kerry's campaign.
She did not elaborate on her comments, leaving Reader's Digest to bail out her husband by reporting that the "message she left hanging in the air" was "Vote for John. He's less poorly qualified than the other guy."
Many American voters may be drawn to the evident reasoning behind her argument. But others are likely to be less sympathetic. Presidential campaigns rarely admit to any human frailty on the part of their candidate.
The widow of a Republican senator, Mrs Kerry once admitted voting for George W. Bush's father. "I don't think the son is the father, and the father's not the son," she added.
Senator Kerry followed in his wife's footsteps yesterday by baring his soul in the latest edition of GQ magazine.
Perhaps seeking to draw a comparison with the teetotal President and pre-empt more embarrassing questions about his personal life, he revealed a liking for Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron.
The South African beauty was "pretty extraordinary", he said in an interview entitled "A Beer with John Kerry".
Catherine Zeta-Jones was another favourite, along with Marilyn Monroe, who was funny, complicated and "obviously very attractive".
Senator Kerry also tried to fill in some of the missing years in his personal story for voters -- the period after his first marriage ended in divorce and before he married tomato sauce heiress Teresa Heinz, who is worth an estimated $US500 million ($700 million).
"Those were not good days," he said of his time as a bachelor on Capitol Hill. "That's not a good world, and everyone wants a piece of you, and all I can say is, thank God I found Teresa."
posted on August 19, 2004 05:59:13 PM
She is going to be a great first lady......maybe better than Hillary. We need a woman with some backbone. Our current one sits like a stooge and says nothing.
