10. One of Mrs. Heinz Kerry's basic principles is that charity doesn't have to mean cheap...One of her dates with Sen. Kerry, whom she married in 1995, was at an after-school arts program, where the senator was dazzled by a state-of-the-art recording studio and photography lab.
Last year, she threw out plans she deemed too pedestrian for an expansion of the Sarah Heinz House, a former settlement house for immigrants built in 1913 on the Heinz factory grounds. It is used today as an after-school center for troubled youth. Instead, she hired William McDonough, a "green" architect from the University of Virginia, to design a campus where kids can grow vegetables and learn how rainwater is reclaimed. The refinements added $1 million to the overall $7 million cost.
The Heinz grants reveal something of Mrs. Heinz Kerry's political philosophy. Her two great passions are the environment and early-childhood education. She doesn't think government has all the answers. She thinks of herself as practical. (WSJ)
Good causes, all...
- Kisses her husband more frequently and less disturbingly than Tipper Gore.
- Is thus far unfazed by Republican criticism of everything from her wardrobe to her philanthropic activities. There's something charmingly unruffled about her.
- Is staunchly pro-choice and more pro-gay-marriage than her husband. When Kerry balked at the "would you go to your gay child's wedding" question, she cut in with an impatient, "of course we would."
- Is better at turning Kerry's policy positions into soundbites than he is himself. In the Globe today, Mary Beth Cahill calls her the campaign's 'unsung heroine.'
- Says these slightly off-color things like the "good wine" comment on CNN, or this, from the Globe also:
"This is the beginning of the second round, and so this is new for me. And I haven't quite figured out how much of the old, pre-this, I can continue to do, because I enjoy doing that, and how much more of the next is going to be more public, less intimate. I don't know that. I'm going to make it as intimate as I can, I promise," she said with a giggle.
Heh. Makes her seem human.
- Despite her obvious knowledge, experience, and outspoken personality, has wisely refrained from positioning herself as a policy advisor; she's doing a great job of staking out that territory between Stepford Wife and "I didn't want to stay home and bake cookies"--I love Hillary, but I realize that sentiment is not exactly shared by a lot of independent voters.
- When Kerry's around her, he acts more like a human being and less like prototypical Massachusetts Yankee Man. He can use all the softening up he can get.
- She's terrifically articulate talking about her own feelings and beliefs about America, and it resonates. She's got a touch of the common touch, even with the wealthy/foreigner issues to overcome (again, I don't consider them issues, but you know)...
- The accent, it's just so cute.
Why, yes, I am a fangirl. If I could, I would vote for her.