Slate has this article as their current headline:
Before I read this article, I knew of Teresa Heinz. Being from Pittsburgh, I obviously knew of her late husband, Senator John Heinz. And, well, hey, you can’t swing a dead cat in Pittsburgh without hitting something that has the word “Heinz” on it.
But I never knew what she was all about. She is now my new hero, and I’m trying to find out all that I can about her.
My favorite part in the article is when she is quoted as calling fellow Republican Rick Santorum, “Forrest Gump with an attitude.” I almost fell off my chair!
And then the whole mocking of her current husband’s Nam Nightmares and then, after being told not to, talking at length about his colon cancer surgery at a fund raiser. Priceless.
I see Teresa as the anti-Hillary. No one, in my opinion, could be created as a more perfect opposite pole to Hillary than Teresa Heinz. She’s like Ann Coulter, but with class.
Please, anyone have any input or insight into Teresa Heinz, I would most appreciate it.
Now the debate, because their has to be one.
The article linked above centers mostly around her impact on her husband’s presidential campaign. It details how his campaign people were trying to deal with the “Teresa Problem.” They tried to put a lid on her, redirect her, and just plain shut her up. They saw her as a threat to Kerry’s campaign. But since she is unrestrainable, none of the tactics worked.
I’ll Start back at the very beginning on why John Kerry’s campaign has already failed, with just under a year to go until the election.
Just the fact that Kerry switched his campaign team means that he is doomed. With something as publicly studied as a campaign for a public office is, any little change immediately gets multiplied and extrapolated, and is viewed as a mistake. Personally, I see it as a lack of character or backbone. Any sign of trying to put on a false front is justly seen as having a lack of integrity. Gore suffered from the same Personality Switching Disorder, and it hurt him.
So, assuming that Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz, would be bad for Kerry’s campaign, they immediately tried to cover her up. But being the head strong, fiesty, firey, and outspoken person that she is, she couldn’t be contained. Now, it appears that she is getting more attention than her husband who is running for office.
Hmmmm. She’s got Chutzpah, and people take notice and like that. Even if they disagree with what she’s saying, they like that Teresa is saying it with confidence and volume.
So now the Kerry campaign, which previously ignored the “Teresa Problem”, sees Teresa for what she is: John Kerry’s best asset. To me, it is evident that they are taking a page out of her book, with Kerry’s recent vulgar embarassment of an interview in Rolling Stone. Atleast Kerry’s trying.
We see Kerry taking bad advice from his campaign team. We see them trying to cover up his wife, and then embracing her. And we see Kerry switching gears again, hoping that the public won’t view this as an insight into the shallow weakness in his character.