The Education of Alexandra Polier

New York Metro. Com ^ | June 1 2004 | Alexandra Polier

[tbird5]

The Education of Alexandra Polier Falsely accused of having an affair with John Kerry, the “intern” sifts through the mud and the people who threw it.

On the evening of Thursday, February 12, as John Kerry had just chalked up his twelfth state-primary win in his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, I was at a dinner party in Nairobi, hosted by my friend Matthew Rosenberg, an Associated Press reporter based in East Africa. The male guests were discussing a recent poker game, while the women sat around trading recipes to give to their cooks. It promised to be your typical Nairobi night.

Five months earlier, I had quit my job at the AP in New York and moved to Kenya with my fiancé, Yaron Schwartzman, who’d grown up there. He had been offered a film-production job, and I wanted to try some foreign corresponding. That night the group included aid workers, diplomats, photographers, and the feisty AP bureau chief, Susan Linnee.

As we started dinner, I was dimly aware of Susan’s cell phone’s ringing. I didn’t know her well but was excited to talk to her in case a job in the bureau came up. She went outside to answer it, then came back and beckoned me to join her in the garden. “The New York office wants to talk to you,” she said, and then she dialed the number and passed me the phone.

“Hello, Alex,” said the familiar voice of my old boss, Tom Kent, one of AP’s deputy managing editors. He sounded brusque. “I hate to tell you this, but you’re on the Drudge Report,” he said, and then proceeded to read me Matt Drudge’s latest “world exclusive.”

“A frantic behind-the-scenes drama is unfolding around Sen. John Kerry and his quest to lockup the Democratic nomination for President, the drudge report can reveal.

“Intrigue surrounds a woman who recently fled the country, reportedly at the prodding of Kerry, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

“A serious investigation of the woman and the nature of her relationship with Sen. John Kerry has been underway at TIME magazine, ABC NEWS, the WASHINGTON POST, THE HILL and the ASSOCIATED PRESS, where the woman in question once worked.

“MORE [!]

“A close friend of the woman first approached a reporter late last year claiming fantastic stories—stories that now threaten to turn the race for the presidency on its head!

“In an off-the-record conversation with a dozen reporters earlier this week General Wesley Clark plainly stated: ‘Kerry will implode over an intern issue.’ [Three reporters in attendance confirm Clark made the startling comments.]

“The Kerry commotion is why Howard Dean has turned increasingly aggressive against Kerry in recent days, and is the key reason why Dean reversed his decision to drop out of the race after Wisconsin, top campaign sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.”

I wasn’t named, but Kent explained everyone knew whom Drudge was talking about. I was stunned into silence. “You have to make a statement, Alex,” Kent was saying. “I have no comment,” I managed to say as tears began to well. He sounded desperate to keep me on the line. “I’m not going to talk to the media,” I said. I was too overwhelmed and confused to know what had happened. I had never had an affair with John Kerry. Who was trying to make me the next Monica Lewinsky?

http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/politics/national/features/9221/

[aculeus]

Bump.

[syriacus]

Kerry's people probably started the rumor.

It's the only way Kerry could appear faintly attractive to women.

[ken5050]

"...I wanted to try some foreign corresponding..."

The entire brain, and mindset, of this woman is displayed in this one phrase..

[TheSpottedOwl]

I didn't read the whole thing, but what she and her family went through is ridiculous.

[ken5050]

actually, if you read between the lines, this whole article is a "cover-up"...for one simple, yet very obvious reason...no way , after Clinton/Lewinski, and Condit/Levy, would a married, US senator, with presidential ambitions, innocently be seen in public with a young, single, attractive female...unless, he was getting some....

[jimbo123]

Funny how Alex wrote her one-sided article and fled back to Africa. She's afraid to do a real interview and answer some real questions.

[TheSpottedOwl]

According to her, she left for Africa to be with her fiance, and try her hand at foreign reporting. Of course she could be lying. The press did put her and her fiance's parents through hell. No one who knew her personally jumped on the bandwagon to offer up pictures or juicy anecdotes, unlike Monica Lewinsky's acquaintances.

[Dont Mention the War]

“I’m not going to talk to the media,” I said.

Turnabout's a bitch, ain't it, Alex? How's it feel to have the microphone shoved in your fat face?

What an embarrassingly self-serving article.

[cyncooper]

I'll click to read the rest in a sec. But right off the bat, this is ODD:

I wasn’t named, but Kent explained everyone knew whom Drudge was talking about. I was stunned into silence.

Well, there was SOME reason "everyone knew" whom Drudge was talking about. Just how and why did they get THAT idea?

Why, if it is all untrue--and of course it may well be--did she not instantly deny it? If she didn't want to go public, why is she doing so now and resurrecting an issue everybody else had forgotten.

I can't wait to read the rest of this.

[PFC]

Actually it was quite an interesting article. Really shows the media for what they are.

[cyncooper]

Who was trying to make me the next Monica Lewinsky?

From the preceding sentence to the above indignant comment, it sounds like her old boss and colleagues at the AP.

I haven't read the whole thing yet. This sounds promising. Lots of wide-eyed crap.

[ken5050]

It's a classic attempt to try and get out ahead of the story, and shape it..the denial inf ront of the story..she goes into so much detail of her social and love life...attempting to prove it isn't true..it's what attorneys notice when peopel are lying on the witness stand, they add TOO MUCH details to their lies..that's what trips them up...I repeat my earlier statement...a person like Kerry who wasn't looking to hook-up with this chick, wouldn't allow himself to be seen int he same room talking to her alone, let alone at a bar....you avoid the appearance of impropriety...the timing of the article is signioficant..I look for the other show to drop soon....

[cyncooper]

I was wandering around the main complex when I spotted Kerry at the bar. It was not long after President George W. Bush’s inauguration, and I, like many other Americans, was distressed by the outcome of the election.

And some of us were thrilled and relieved.

What a twit.

[jimbo123]

Exactly. Alex testified via her one-sided New York article and fled back to Africa to avoid cross examination. What is she afraid of?

[ken5050]

She's not afraid...she probably could get a million for a book deal tomorrow, or at least an Enquirer article...or Playboy..but she's obviously a Kerry supporter, and she knows that if it comes up...well, that's it..

[cyncooper]

Another freeper directed me to Mickey Kaus on this:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2101504/

As he says, Polier raises as many questions as answers with this piece.

[Kenny Bunk]

so let ME try some foreign corresponding.

Ain't no doubt atall that Kerry is/was a player. Scent trails all over the place. Also, like his Kennedy models and mentors, members of his staff are/were trained to ferret out and cultivate "good leads." For example, Ted had people on his staff haunt upscale shopping centers to hit on women for him. If his staff started dating someone Ted found attractive, Ted would insist on a "share." arrangement! (Yeah, it's that sick in DC! Or haven't you ever heard of that congress critter from Sacramento?)

So to continue foreign correponding, the only real question is, "...has Momma Ketchup put the lid back on Kerry's bottle, or is it an "open" arrangement?" Ya gotta remember, before Teresa and the 57 Varieties came in the picture, Kerry was actually "homeless," mooching off a succession of rich pals.

Now about Alexandria. Columbia at least taught her about short, punchy paragraphs. But her style is like "Nancy Drew, Girl Reporter." The slant is obvious, as is the cover-up. "Nancy, you have told a falsehood."

I predict a bright future for her in Kenyan journalism.

[ken5050]

Thanks for the link...good read..but those friggin' pop ups on that site...and I went to the TNR story it referenced...Kaus has it right..the whole thing doesn't pass the "whiff" test...but what's curious, if they thought they had killed/buried/discredited the story a few months ago, then why would they encourage her to resurrect it NOW..it makes peopel talk about it again..I'd wager a few bucks that Matt may have more info...

[Wally_Kalbacken]

This adds some information to the story, but I'm still not persuaded a) that it would have taken her (or any sentient being in the post-Lewinski era) that long to respond and b) why Kerry himself went into a several day blackout and then only emerged on the Imus show with a lame and poorly phrased response. I would think that any campaign in 2004 would do an immediate gut check - would have asked exactly the questions that were, according to Pollier's article, asked (were you alone together at any time? were you photographed together? etc) and as soon as they found out that she had dated a staffer of Kerry's - they would have blurted that fact out at the top of their lungs in order to squash the story on Drudge. 

I'm not saying that the awkward way of handling the story is proof of its truth - it may just have been proof of how bad Kerry and Pollier are in understanding communication. I like the way she name drops to suggest sophistication (schools, intern assignments, international travel, etc.) - and yet she wants us to believe she was so naive as to not know that this needed a very quick response?

On the other hand - for you evil conspiracy theorists out there, if you assume the story is true (i.e., that Kerry did have an affair with her) and then you hypothesize what the campaign would have done in terms of damage control (Who is single male on the Kerry staff that travels with him a lot so we can float the story she was dating a staffer? Quick!) - you could come up with the same sequence of responses at the time.