I must say, I was a little put off by
Mrs. Heinz Kerry. I don't know what it was. Perhaps it is because she doesn't smile much. She doesn't seem like she is interested in the events surrounding her for some reason. I was wincing as she was dealing with five year old Jack Edwards, who decided to go over to her side of the stage carrying a large golf umbrella that is twice his size. Of course, as all children do, he was twirling the umbrella and moving around. As such, he was bumping into people, including Teresa. Sometimes Teresa would bend down and whisper something to him or lightly hold the top of the umbrella.
Now, perhaps I am just cranky and in a bad mood. You see I went to the Phillies-Mets game last night only to wait out a hour long massive thunderstorm rain delay and then see the Phillies lose to the Mets 10-1. And then I went home forgetting to buy coffee for this morning.
But then I read Maureen Dowd column this morning.
She seems to notice what I notice:
-- I'm happy for John Kerry.
Long-faced guy, as some Bushies refer to him, finally found somebody to stand at the podium and give him an adoring look.
Heaven knows Teresa was never going to do it. Her attention rarely seems to light on her husband when she's at a microphone with him.
It's sort of mesmerizing, really. She's unlike any other political wife I've ever seen -- unscripted and ready to do as she likes, in her intriguing, world-weary way, even as her second husband introduced his running mate at her adored first husband's 88-acre, $3.7 million "farm" in suburban Pittsburgh. The white-columned colonial mansion and swimming pool were out of sight and bales of hay strategically placed to give a populist touch.
She doesn't gaze like Nancy or glare like Lee Hart or look appraisingly at her husband like Elizabeth Edwards. She doesn't always seem to notice he's there. When Mr. Kerry moves in for a nuzzle or a kiss, she sometimes makes a little face.
She's easily distracted, waving and mouthing "Hello" at the audience and languidly arranging her hair and the red-and-blue "John Kerry for President" scarves she designed.
She siphons attention from a husband who has a hard enough time getting it. Yesterday, she distracted the audience when she seemed to be trying to get young Jack Edwards to stop sucking his thumb. Sometimes she'll laugh and smile in inappropriate places -- she once chuckled while her husband talked about curbing tax breaks for the rich.
Teresa has the air, as Chris Matthews noted, of an old-fashioned European movie star. She projects a quality like Marlene Dietrich or Jeanne Moreau, a sultry touch-me-and-you-die look with an accent to match: a rare political perfume of I don't give a hoot, I'm worth a billion dollars and you're not and he's not and the Bushes are not; of I have four mansions and he doesn't; of I'm so confident I can admit to using Botox and I can wear Chanel while my husband complains about manufacturing jobs' going overseas.
Her detachment seems all the more appealing now that John Kerry can't stop patting and grabbing his new pup, John Edwards. Mr. Edwards awkwardly reciprocates, sliding his arm around the big guy's torso.
Don't get me wrong, I like and admire her. So does Maureen Dowd. But there is just something different about her. If Kerry is elected, I truly believe she will be our Nancy Reagan. And I don't mean that in a bad way, but in a way that she will be a no holds barred and take no shit First Lady.
So what are your impressions of the next First Lady?
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