Vera Drake: A Cue from The Passion of the Christ
If the Roman Catholic Church has a problem with pro-abortion-rights presidential candidate John Kerry taking Communion, then imagine its reaction to this: pro-abortion-rights groups promoting the new movie Vera Drake by using the playbook from the campaign that drove millions to theaters to see Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ . The movie, produced by Fine Line Features, is already getting critical praise for its portrayal of the controversial woman who helped perform abortions when they were illegal in Britain. Now, we learn, pro-abortion-rights groups are planning to use the film against President Bush to highlight their concerns that Bush would pack the Supreme Court in a second term with conservative judges who would reverse Roe v. Wade. Such a move, activists say, would end abortions in 30 states. Like the backers of The Passion, groups such as Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and Catholics for Free Choice and celebrities like Gloria Steinem are holding special screenings of the film and talking it up in E-mails. One insider said the groups hope the movie drives Democrats to the polls: "It's a great motivator."
Kerry and the Red Sox: True Love
Forget that pitch into the dirt that Sen. John Kerry made to open a Red Sox-Yankees game during the Democratic National Convention. This guy is no Johnny-come-lately to Red Sox Nation. He recalls playing hooky as a kid to watch Ted Williams at Fenway Park in 1956, attending Game 6 of the '75 World Series--famed for Carlton Fisk 's winning homer--and the '86 Series. "He is Sox obsessed," says a close friend. He even tries to play armchair manager. Drinking Buds in a hotel room while watching Game 7 of last week's Yankees-Sox playoffs, he stood and called out to Sox slugger Johnny Damon: "This is your moment of history!" Then Damon hit his second homer of the night, putting the game out of reach for New York. "Now I can sleep," Kerry said. But first he called team owner John Henry to brag on the boys of Yawkey Way. Friends say Kerry believes in the Curse of the Bambino but thinks this is the year to end it. Ditto for the Curse of JFK --the one that's kept any other Massachusetts candidates out of the White House. Kerry's motto for both, quotes a friend: "This could be the year!"
Betting on Bush
The election is still a week off, but the Bush camp is making strong predictions about the final outcome. Insiders tell us that the Bush-Cheney polling team believes the president will win re-election 50 percent to 47 percent.
Unity Call
The Kerry transition team, hastily planning a Democratic administration should their man win, says it wants to put Republicans in the cabinet. "We want to make it clear that a Kerry presidency will unite," says a Kerry insider, "not divide."
Wayne's World
When aging crooner Wayne Newton played for the troops in a USO show at Iraq's Camp Liberty last week, some of the soldiers were less than thrilled. What happened to stars like the late Bob Hope and Robin Williams entertaining the troops? they quizzed our correspondent. Griped one enlisted man: "Is this war so unpopular that the best we can do is Wayne Newton?"
The Un-voters
Who are the 45 percent of Americans who are eligible to vote but don't? Pollster Peter Hart knows. He tells us that they're not shirkers of civic duty. Instead, many think they just don't know enough about the candidates. "They don't feel that they're adequate" enough to choose, he said. And, "a lot of people are content with their life" without politics.
Roadie rags
What's hot in political fashion? The new black coats that Bush staffers are sporting on the campaign trail. They're embroidered with a logo of an interstate highway sign emblazoned with "W 2004" and the words "Road Crew" below. Underneath is a royal blue fleece liner embroidered with a presidential seal. "You wouldn't believe how warm they are," says Bush spokesman Scott McClellan. Insiders tell us that message maven Karen Hughes loves to wear hers on Air Force One.
Have gun, will vote
One reason polls might show Sen. John Kerry doing well with men is all those newspaper pictures of the candidate hoisting a shotgun. We're told that labor officials are putting even more pictures of sportsman Kerry in factories and other workplaces. "Those pictures," says our labor insider, "tell guys not to worry about their guns."
Image trouble
The most effective TV ads in the presidential race probably were not a product of either campaign. Analysts suggest that the most powerful came from the independent, left-leaning Media Fund, with its hit on President Bush 's ties to the Saudi royal family: two ads showing the prez and a Saudi leader holding hands. To test the ad, the Media Fund took the pulse of voters in St. Louis before and after the ads had aired for a week. Pollster Fred Yang found that the head-to-head matchup between Bush and Sen. John Kerry swung 9 percentage points to Kerry. The ads also hurt Bush by boosting the perception that he's tied to Big Oil.
Insourcing jobs
That jobs outsourcing issue wouldn't be so bruising to President Bush if he had paid attention to his business pals. That's because business owners are finding they can keep jobs in the United States if they get included in one of the nation's many foreign-trade zones. In the first study of its kind, the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones found that companies covered by the designation employ 338,000 workers and export $19.8 billion in goods a year. The zones, started under the New Deal, level the playing field with overseas competitors by cutting taxes and tariffs to encourage imports and exports. The Ford Motor Co. is one example. After the company won trade-zone status, the study said, it scrapped plans to send its Ohio engine-manufacturing business to Britain. "You bet it saved jobs," said trade consultant Roy Knapp.
Alternative medicine
The folks at GOP opposition research didn't just laugh when Teresa Heinz Kerry said white raisins, soaked in gin for 14 days, soothe arthritis pain. They decided to test the remedy. "We've got Sun-Maid white raisins soaking in Gilbey's," an insider told us. "It should be ready just in time, the day before the election," he said. "We'll need 'em."
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With Julian E. Barnes and Angie C. Marek
This story appears in the November 1, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.