Prospective first lady causes headache for campaigners
Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "Guardian"
Heiress Heinz Kerry responds sharply to questioning
Suzanne Goldenberg in Boston
Tuesday July 27, 2004
The Guardian
The wealthy and occasionally impetuous Teresa Heinz Kerry lived up to her reputation as a wild card yesterday, with party leaders engaged in a damage control exercise after she told a journalist from a rightwing newspaper to "shove it".
A day before the prospective first lady takes the stage at the convention in an attempt to banish impressions that Senator John Kerry's wife may not march to the same drum as the average American woman, leading Democrats expressed their approval of her outburst.
"I think my wife speaks her mind appropriately," Mr Kerry told reporters.
"A lot of Americans are going to say, 'good for you girl', and that's certainly how I feel about it," Hillary Clinton told CNN.
Ms Heinz Kerry's pique was understandable - if ill-timed - and her language relatively refined compared with the choice of words of the vice-president, Dick Cheney, earlier this month when he lost his temper with the Democratic senator Patrick Leahy.
The contretemps, which came amid grumbles from political reporters that the Mozambique-born Ms Heinz Kerry has grown testy on the campaign trail, may add to fears among Democratic officials that she may be uncontainable.
For most political observers, Ms Heinz Kerry is strangely unpredictable: a quirky heiress who inherited a fortune built on ketchup and soup after the death of her first husband, John Heinz.
She also appears to have no fear of speaking her mind - even when that produced interviews in which she referred to her deceased spouse as her husband, and revealed that Mr Kerry, a Vietnam war veteran, at times awoke from screaming nightmares.
There was more embarrassment when it emerged that Ms Heinz Kerry had maintained her allegiance to the Republican party long after the death of her first husband - who was a Republican senator - and her marriage to Mr Kerry. She did not formally join the Democratic party until last year.
She now appears to be focusing on her potential new role. In an interview with Time magazine, she gave her opinion of other first ladies, including Laura Bush, to whom she gave a good rating. "She seems the right wife for her husband," she said. "I'm glad she was there on 9/11."
Her handlers have been hoping to reintroduce her to the American public as a sophisticated asset to the presidency, showcasing her linguistic skills (she speaks five languages) and her stewardship of the Heinz charitable foundations.
But her temper could complicate their task. On Sunday she attended a reception for delegates from her adopted home in Pennsylvania, and called for a new era of civility in politics.
"We need to turn back some of the creeping, un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics," she said.
Moments later she found herself hard pressed to maintain that when she was approached by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a rightwing newspaper, to explain what she meant by un-American.
The Tribune's owner, Richard Mellon Scaife, is a leading patron of conservative causes, including the Heritage Institute thinktank.
Mr Scaife's foundations gave about $2m to the American Spectator during the 1990s to help the magazine investigate President Bill Clinton's activities in Arkansas.
Ms Heinz Kerry initially denied having used the words un-American, although her comments were recorded.
Then she asked which paper the reporter, Colin McNickle, represented. When pressed by McNickle, to say what she meant by un-American, Ms Heinz Kerry said: "You said something I didn't say. Now shove it."
Her spokeswoman, Laura Romash, later said: "This was sheer frustration aimed at a rightwing rag that has consistently and purposely misrepresented the facts in reporting on Ms Kerry and her family."
Although Democratic party officials said they expected the flurry of interest in Ms Heinz Kerry's spat to subside , the incident was not the most auspicious start to her week in the party spotlight.
But on the floor delegates were quick to defend her. "I'm not sure how it will play but I'm coming down on the side of - 'it's OK, but let's cool it. Keep a level head, girl'," said Lexie Carter, 52, of Memphis, Tennessee. "It's the kind of thing that could hurt her stature as a potential first lady."
Joan Nagel, a Pennsylvania delegate, called the comment "completely appropriate".
"I saw it on television," she said. "It looked like she was being hassled."
Barbara Bush set the standard for outspoken spouses in 1984 when she called the Democratic vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro a "$4m rhymes with rich" during the campaign to re-elect President Ronald Reagan and her husband, George Bush. She later apologised.
Ms Heinz Kerry has a full calendar at the convention.
However, her star turn will be tonight's speech on the main floor of the Democratic party's convention. After Sunday's outburst, it will be impossible not to tune in.
allegiance – lojalność
amid – wśród
to approach sb – podejść do kogoś
appropriately – odpowiednio
asset – atut
auspicious – pomyślny
To banish – pozbyć się czegoś
civility – uprzejmość, grzeczność
consistently – konsekwentnie
contretemps – nieporozumienie, zadrażnienie
creeping – pełzający
deceased – zmarły
to deny – zaprzeczać
flurry of sth – przypływ (np. entuzjazmu)
grumble – pomruk niezadowolenia
to hassle – dokuczać
heiress – spadkobierczyni
ill-timed – w złym czasie
Impetuous – porywczy
to inherit – dziedziczyć
lived up to – spełniać
to loose one’s temper – stracić panowanie nad sobą
maintain – utrzymywać
to misrepresent – opacznie przedstawiać
outburst – wybuch
outspoken – otwarty, bezpośredni
pique – uraza, urażona duma
Prospective – przyszły, potencjalny
purposely – specjalnie
quirky – dziwaczny
rag – szmatławiec
reception – przyjęcie (kogoś)
refined – wyrafinowany
sheer – czysty, najzwyklejszy
shove it! – wsadź to sobie…! (wulg!)
to showcase – prezentować
sophisticated – wyrafinowany
spat – sprzeczka
spouse – małżonek
steward – gospodarz, zarządca
to subside – ustąpić
testy – drażliwy
think tank – sztab ekspertów
trait – cecha
uncontainable – nie do opanowania
wild card – osoba nieprzewidywalna
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