Posted on 07/14/2004 4:59:15 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952
As they join Dad on the campaign trail, the president's daughters go public in style By Jean Scheidnes
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Like their predecessor Chelsea Clinton, first daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush have chosen the gentle fashion press to launch their public personas. Decked in designer ball gowns, they appear in a detailed profile in Vogue, which hits newsstands Friday. For the past four years, the press has kept a respectful distance from the fraternal twins, except when they ran afoul of the law. But with the Vogue issue and their new roles in their father's re-election efforts -- both have hit the campaign trail in recent days -- the first daughters have marked themselves as fair subjects for the news media.
"They're adults, and they've chosen to enter the fray to a certain extent," said Mike Hoyt, executive editor of Columbia Journalism Review. "I don't think there's anything wrong with them entering the conversation, and obviously they're aware that their interview has got political dimensions.
"I suppose we can expect . . . more stories on who are they and what can we tell about the president's values by looking at his children. Every politician presents his family to show they are human beings like you and me," he said. John Kerry's daughter Vanessa and stepson Chris Heinz have been visible campaigners since the primaries.
In the usual Vogue fashion, the interview -- which includes comments from mom, dad and Austinite Regan Gammon -- throws only softballs. There are no pronouncements about Iraq or gay marriage, and only the subtlest references to the twins' penchant for partying. But for anyone who was wondering, the story does shed light on what they drink at Starbucks (soy lattes), what brand of T-shirts Jenna prefers (C&C), and whether they had boyfriends at press time (Barbara did).
Already, the Bush twins are no strangers to bad publicity. They endured thorough documentation of their underage drinking antics, especially their run-in with the law at Chuy's restaurant in 2001 (Jenna was cited for trying to use fake identification to buy alcohol; Barbara for being a minor in possession of alcohol). And in a sign that the kid gloves have come off for good, The New York Times on Sunday ran a piece that mentioned Barbara -- supposedly the more restrained twin -- doubled over and spitting on the sidewalk.
"Where were Barbara's minders when she was nearly sick outside?" Coco Henson Scales writes of the Secret Service in her first-person account of her year as a restaurant hostess.
"I think the children of politicians should have lots of privacy. And it's probably a mistake for them personally to go on the publicity path, but their father probably needs all the help he can get," said Bryce Nelson, professor of journalism at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.
Clinton enjoyed a measure of privacy throughout her father's presidency that continued even as she attended graduate school at Oxford University. Her coming out was an appearance in the front row of a 2002 Versace show, next to regulars Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna, shortly after she wrote an essay for the now-defunct Talk magazine.
Jenna and Barbara, recent graduates of the University of Texas and Yale University, respectively, have also attended fashion shows recently, perhaps in part because their cousin Lauren Bush is a runway model.
The twins will spend the next few months stumping for their father, but the daughters told Vogue they signed on strictly out of filial love, not political inclination. After the election, Jenna intends to become a charter school teacher, Vogue says, while Barbara has plans to work overseas with children with AIDS.
The seven-page spread features family snapshots and two photos shot for Vogue by Patrick Demarchelier. In one, they're the picture of privilege, dressed in strapless satin ball gowns, reclining among antiques. In another, they sport more casual separates. Vogue said the daughters related more to the casual clothes.
"I dress up when I'm in New York," Jenna told the magazine, "but in Austin there's really no need."
For some strange reason, I don't see the "gloves coming off" for Kerry's kids....
Yes, we know that Vanessa Kerry has been VERY visible...ugh.
I hate the smarmy Austin UnAmerican's little digs about the Bush girls "run-ins with the law", as though no underage tu students drink and get away with it in that liberal hellhole of Austin.
thanks for the sneak peak.
Here is one from Washington Post...
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I48314-2004Jul13L
The Bush family doesn't discuss the girls' past troubles in Vogue. But the interview does provide a few personal nuggets:
The girls call each other "Sister" and say they are best friends.
They love Mexican food, Starbucks soy lattes and sushi.
The chatty Jenna is more like her dad - boisterous and outgoing. Barbara is more studious and guarded like her mom.
Jenna is dating and Barbara has a serious boyfriend. They don't name names. Their father "is very funny with boyfriends," says Jenna. "He's the joking-around-to-the-point-where-he-scares-the-heck-out-of-them type."
Jenna says her parents have the "best marriage" because "my dad thinks my mom's funny even though she's really not." First lady Laura Bush is "cute; she has funny quirks," including an obsession with cleanliness, Jenna says.
Their grandfather, former president George Bush, keeps in touch with the girls via e-mail. Grandpa Bush has one complaint: "It takes them a month to answer. They're very naughty girls." Barbara says grandmother Barbara Bush, who reportedly chastised the twins after their run-ins with the law, "is strict about some stuff, but she's hilarious."
Both just graduated from college - Jenna from the University of Texas with an English degree and Barbara from Yale with a major in humanities. They're looking forward to being "independent and doing our own thing," says Jenna.
Barbara, interested in art therapy, will intern in the pediatric AIDS (news - web sites) program at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine. Jenna's dream is to open a charter school (a form of education her father supports). She has applied for a teaching job in New York, where she's moving with a friend.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20040714/en_usatoday/bushtwinstaketocampaigning
My only question is, where did W score that sports coat (I pray it's not a suit) ???? |
"My only question is, where did W score that sports coat"????
Yuk. It looks like he took it off a homeless guy.
no bias here.....How many times did the professor speak on the record about Chelsea's many spring break trips when we were subjected to daily adulations from the partisan press?
Wild.
One looks JUST like dad, and the other looks JUST like mom.
Damn!! Next to these young ladies, Vanessa Kerry, despite reveal all dresses (empty dress like her empty suit father?), does not even qualify to get on the same rating scale!
And I am sure that the President will not try to annul his marriage and make these women illegitimate in the eyes of the church.
What? No nipples through the t-shirts like Chelsea Clinton?
Owl_Eagle
Guns Before Butter.
Good grief! Will folks PLEASE STOP repeating this lie? Annulment doesn't make kids illegitimate any more than an civil divorce does!!
"If I find out this guy's been inappropriate with you I'll have the Secret Service 'amputate' him, ha ha ha ha!"
Happy now??? |
You beat me to it.
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