Heinz Kerry Touts Husband's Leadership, Defends Own Style
The Orlando Sentinel reports this morning that "on the eve of her husband's formal selection as the Democratic presidential nominee, Teresa Heinz Kerry Tuesday night offered a full-throated defense of him – and of her own sometimes controversial public style. Heinz Kerry, who drew unwanted attention to herself earlier in the week by telling a conservative journalist to 'shove it,' alluded to the controversy in a speech to the Democratic convention but offered no regrets."
USA Today reports this morning that Teresa Heinz Kerry "called her husband 'a fighter' who earned his Vietnam War medals 'the old-fashioned way, by putting his life on the line for his country.' . . .In remarks that were unusually policy-oriented for a speech by a candidate's wife, Heinz Kerry promised a new environmental agenda." The Washington Post adds that "she was the speaker who was supposed to give the country a more personal view of John F. Kerry, her husband.But just as much, or more, Teresa Heinz Kerry on Tuesday night gave the country its fullest picture thus far of who she is and what she might be like as first lady, defining herself as an immigrant, a mother, an environmentalist and a citizen concerned for the welfare of the country and the world." The Post adds that she spoke "in a lilting European accent."
The Boston Globe reports "the 65-year-old daughter of a Mozambique doctor, who inherited $500 million as a widow but said recently she would give it up to have her first husband alive, has become an object of fascination for voters and the media – and a target of George W. Bush's reelection campaign."
The New York Times reports today that "most Americans did not hear" Heinz Kerry "defend her forthright way with words, however. The three major broadcast networks decided ahead of time not to interrupt their prime-time schedules for even an hour of the Democratic convention yesterday. Instead, most television viewers were given yet another look at her testy exchange with an editor for a conservative Pittsburgh newspaper." The Times adds, "Mrs. Heinz Kerry's row did not entirely overshadow the convention coverage, but it certainly put her under a harsh spotlight."
