'This won't go away. What happened is much nastier than is being reported'

The Telegraph ^ | 02/15/2004 | Adrian Blomfeld and Andrew Alderson

[Sunshine55]

Alex Polier, the twenty-four year old journalist who could end Senator John Kerry's hopes of becoming the next president of the United States is alleged to have had a two-year affair with the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. Last night the rumours were in danger of becoming a full-blown scandal.

"This is not going to go away," one American friend of Miss Polier said yesterday. "What actually happened is much nastier than is being reported."

The allegations come at a crucial time for the senator. Polls showed him leading Mr Bush by 52 per cent to 42 per cent, and aides will be anxious to see if the apparent scandal affects his standing among voters.

Miss Polier, a former intern who also spent some time in 1998 doing work experience at the Houses of Parliament in London, is in Kenya staying with Yaron Schwartzman, her fiance and a member of the country's fashionable young set. The couple have refused to make any comment on her alleged links with Senator Kerry, who is married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, an heiress to the food empire.

Senator Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran dubbed the new JFK, has vehemently denied any relationship with Miss Polier, and shrugged off allegations that he had a two-year affair with her from 2001. "I just deny it categorically. It's rumour. It's untrue. Period," he said.

Mr Kerry, 60, has won 12 out of the 14 Democratic primaries and has looked all but certain to seal the nomination to take on President George W. Bush in November's elections.

His aides have blamed a dirty tricks campaign for bringing the allegations about Miss Polier into the public eye; they first surfaced last week on a Right-wing internet site, the Drudge Report, which famously first broke the news of Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Miss Polier's parents, Terry and Donna, from Malvern, Pennsylvania, added fuel to the fire by claiming that Mr Kerry did pursue their daughter.

"I think he's a sleazeball. I did wonder if she didn't get that feeling herself," said Mr Polier. "He's not the sort of guy I'd choose to be with my daughter.

"John Kerry called my daughter and invited her to be on his re-election committee. She talked to him and decided against it."

The Drudge website also quoted retired Gen Wesley Clark, one of Mr Kerry's rivals for the nomination, as having told journalists off the record: "Kerry will implode over an intern issue."

Mr Clark later dropped out of the race and endorsed Mr Kerry.

Miss Polier, a journalist who once worked for Associated Press, is a graduate of Columbia University, New York. She apparently met the senator as she was beginning her media career. Miss Polier and her fiance were believed to be hiding yesterday at the Nairobi home of Mr Schwartzman's parents, who moved to Kenya from Israel.

She appears to have few friends of her own in Kenya: she has never lived in the country and makes only occasional visits. "She seemed perfectly nice, although she was a little cool," said a Schwartzman family friend.

"She didn't seem to be very willing to open up but whether it was because she was aloof or just shy, I couldn't work out."

[Meredith]

No, but there's a news article described as "satire with a scent of fresh mint" on Brokennewz.com. Title: "John Kerry Says He Worked Hard to Become Mr. Heinz." In the [Spoof] article, Kerry says, "I worked very hard to become Mr. Heinz and have access to my wife's inheritance. I had to work out three hours a day and undergo a strict nutritional regimen to . . . compete against the young gigolos out there. . . decades younger than me. And, I did it before viagra." That's impressive.

[T'wit]

Both pieces excellent -- not that I would have expected otherwise :-) Thanks for the flag.

[Spunky]

Is that a picture of Alex Polier? She looks so familiar whoever it is.

[Paul_B]

Sounds like she's very embarrassed by whatever happened. She seems a very private girl, even her parents don't know much about what went on. Whatever the case actually is, her life will never be the same. I don't think the Africa gambit will work either; too many people want to know the truth.

And if the story is true, odds are she's not the only one out there.

[Maximum Leader]

Yeah she does look familiar, doesn't she?

My first thought is she's the girl at the end of the bar who looks like Cindy Crawford at about 2am.
:o)

[Captainpaintball]

"She didn't seem to be very willing to open up but whether it was because she was aloof or just shy, I couldn't work out."

She didn't open up for this guy, but she apparently opened something for John Kerry!!!

[CurlyDave]

"This is not going to go away," one American friend of Miss Polier said yesterday. "What actually happened is much nastier than is being reported."

I know we would all feel a lot better if this friend would just tell us "what actually happened" as she knows it...

Hearsay is perfectly admissible in newspaper articles.

[autoresponder]

I know; a familiar looking face

That is Alex Polier



I recall seeing many "interchangeable" faces in DC when I've been there



I believe Kerry and others go for a certain "type look"



DC is a weird place



I'd say Massachusetts is too


Look at his staff

Only one black

Only four young men


Lots of young women



Young "Policy Wonks" that are telling Kerry what to say!



I don't see much that impresses me in his staff



I'd say Kerry is afraid of experienced people with brains; his ego and much more.......


Check out what Admiral Zumwalt said about Kerry in Nam



Scary


Sociopath!

[Heatseeker]

Somehow Opus Dei seems a bit of a stretch for Theresa the Terrible - isn't it a very conservative organization?

[Meredith]

The articles she has written suggest a very intelligent, thoughtful and professional person. Of course that doesn't explain why she's with a fiancee who mixes with [according to an article on this cite] "a criminal crowd" in Africa. Unlike Kerry, this is NO bimbo, so maybe she can come out of it without too much damage. She looks smart enough to figure out how to do it and it's not too late.

[PhilDragoo]

Alex is jogging through Kenya.

[mewzilla]

I see her age has changed again.

[boop]

What an incredible poll! Did the Telegraph actually poll Americans or Brits? I have yet to see a poll where kerry even beats Bush, let alone beats him 53-42. Earlier today it was Kerry 53-43. I guess Bush is "slipping".

[T'wit]

The polls are nonsense. I can't even see why anyone bothers with the polling at this time. A few weeks ago Dean was going to walk away with the nomination. Nobody else polled anywhere near him. Oops, he's 0 for 14.

[autoresponder]

Esp. if you are wearing shades

[yoe]

And from that article, this is all we must remember..."All Democrats care about is kicking out George Bush. They'll take no notice of anything else."

certainly not terrorism or security for the country; that is just too bothersome.....

Kerry could take off all his clothes in front of a crowd or use his now infamous epithet in every speech...the dems would not care a whit; they never think character or qualifications are important as long as they have a shot at the White House.

[gitmo]

Same thing happens to me every May.