Posted on 02/17/2004 1:28:09 PM PST by anniegetyourgun
The only interest Alexandra Polier had in U.S. Sen. John Kerry was for a job reference, her Peoria grandmother said Monday.
Busting open the American-media floodgates on the story Monday, Polier, 27, issued a statement denying rumors she had an affair with the Democratic presidential candidate. That denial was repeated later by her paternal grandmother, Dorothy Polier, who lives on the far north side of Peoria.
"There's nothing to all of this," Dorothy Polier said in an irritated tone to the Journal Star.
Alexandra Polier's parents, Terry and Donna Polier, live in Malvern, Pa. Terry Polier grew up in central Illinois and graduated from Galesburg High School before moving to Pennsylvania, where his daughter was raised.
Alexandra Polier graduated from Clark University in Worchester, Mass., and received a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in 2003. She is a free-lance journalist who has worked as an editorial assistant for the Associated Press in New York.
Over the years, Polier and her parents often have spent Christmastimes in Peoria at the home of Dorothy and Bruce Polier. She last visited Peoria in December 2002.
Dorothy Polier said that a few years ago, her granddaughter lived in England and worked in some capacity for Parliament.
"I was proud," the grandmother said.
Afterward, Alexandra - "Alex" to family and friends - wanted to find work, apparently of a political nature, in Washington, D.C., her
grandmother said.
So, Alexandra Polier went to the capital and paid a visit on a big-name acquaintance: Kerry.
The meeting occurred long before the U.S. senator from Massachusetts announced plans to run for president, Dorothy Polier said.
"I think she talked to him about working with him in Washington, but she never did it. … She had been introduced to him and thought he might be able to tell her where to go" in her job search.
Dorothy Polier said she did not know if the meeting with Kerry (who also has denied the affair rumors) helped her granddaughter. She has been in Africa with her fianc<0x00E9>, an Israeli whose parents live in Kenya.
Stories have referred to Alexandra Polier as a former Kerry intern, but she said Monday she never worked for him.
Her grandmother said although Alexandra Polier knew Kerry, the relationship was all business and apparently stemmed from her duties as a reporter.
She said her granddaughter never mentioned Kerry in a romantic way.
Dorothy Polier said though she does not keep in constant contact with her granddaughter, she says Alex Polier was too busy with her education and career to engage in an affair.
"I know Alex was gone (overseas) a long time," her grandmother said. "She was traveling a lot."
Though tentative U.S. media had barely touched the story until Monday, the European press has run wild with allegations since last week.
One newspaper claimed an American TV network has been sitting on an on-camera interview with Alexandra Polier while it investigates the matter further.
Another paper quoted her father as calling Kerry a "sleazeball" - though her parents issued a statement in Pennsylvania on Monday denying affair rumors and pledging to vote for Kerry for president.
Dorothy Polier declined to talk in depth about burgeoning ballyhoo.
Annoyed by her family getting dragged through the mud, she has begun to avoid news reports about the allegations.
"They're absolutely false," she said, her voice again rising. "(Reporters) are driving my son crazy," she said.
Well there you have it... she never told grandma that she was sleeping with a married man, so I guess that means it didn't happen.
Nothing to see here. Move on.
After all, how long does it take to recall that you've NEVER cheated on your wife?
Exactly.
FWIW, I think he didn't have a clue then about which wench they were talking about, and he needed to wait to get his story straight. Not the actions of an innocent man.
Correction. She actually said: "I don't think he had it in her!"
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