Posted on 10/21/2004 9:04:54 AM PDT by Michael Goldsberry
NEW LONDON, N.H. - Laura Bush said Thursday that Teresa Heinz Kerry didn't need to apologize for saying she couldn't remember whether the first lady had ever had "a real job."
"She apologized but she didn't even really need to apologize," Mrs. Bush told reporters at a coffee shop before attending a rally for President Bush (news - web sites). "I know how tough it is and actually I know those trick questions."
USA Today had asked Heinz Kerry, the wife of Democratic candidate John Kerry (news - web sites), if she would be different from Mrs. Bush as a first lady.
"Well, you know, I don't know Laura Bush. But she seems to be calm, and she has a sparkle in her eye, which is good," Heinz Kerry said in the interview published Wednesday. "But I don't know that she's ever had a real job - I mean, since she's been grown up. So her experience and her validation comes from important things, but different things."
Heinz Kerry later said she had forgotten that Mrs. Bush had worked as a teacher and librarian. "There couldn't be a more important job than teaching our children," she said in a statement. "As someone who has been both a full-time mom and full-time in work force, I know we all have valuable experiences that shape who we are. I appreciate and honor Mrs. Bush's service to the country as first lady and am sincerely sorry I had not remembered her important work in the past."
Bush adviser Karen Hughes later criticized Heinz Kerry twice - first for remarks "indicative of an unfortunate mind-set that seeks to divide women based on who works at home and who works outside the home" and later for an apology she called "worse because she left out the very important real job of a mother."
To be a First Lady,
You have to be a Lady, First.
Laura Bush to THK, "Bless your heart..."
Noticed that in the title, AP chose to use "First Lady" instead of Laura Bush. Her graciousness appeals to the masses, even AP.
That's why Laura's the first lady and you are KidGlock......:)
LOL! Yep, that's about it!
I love our First Lady!
Now that is a First Class Lady. She knows that the Kerry/Heinz campaign is just saying anything they can to get elected.
Ohh such a classy woman. We should be very proud to have her Laura Bush in the WH. I wonder which woman is better suited at diplomacy anyway: the one who insults people everytime she opens her mouth or the one who really cares about her impact on people and thinks before she speaks.
Maybe Tereeesa is better off just to stick with the "shove it" answer anytime she is ask a question.
Good point.
Class vs. Crass BUMP
That's because she IS a lady!
That's how I took it as well. BUMP!
What a beautiful and classy way to bit**-slap the gigolo-bait...
I think they're both handling it just exactly right. Rush was playing some comments by Charles Krauthammer (from Brit Hume's panel last night, I presume). Krauthammer just lit into Teresa something fierce, pointing out that her remarks about Laura Bush were the condescension of the very rich - "She's just some Texas housewife - that's nothing compared to me!"
And that's what's so damaging to Kerry about her remarks - that kind of look-down-your-nose-at-the-great-unwashed elitism is the one thing that most Americans hate more than anything else, and Kerry has been working overtime trying to shed the image that he's one of those kind of elites. And then comes Teresa, and with one burst of oral flatulence she destroys all that effort.
The MSM know just as well how devastating Teresa's shot at the First lady was for their picked Poodle, and they would have spiked the story as hard as they could if they could have managed it. That's why Karen Hughes had to make as big a stink about it as she did - she had to make sure the media were forced to give it coverage.
Can you picture Laura married to John Kerry? Or George Bush married to Thereza Heinz? 'Nuf said?
I never said I would make a good First Lady.
I look terrible in panty hose and heels.
Yahoo has already pulled this off of their home page. It was there 5 minutes ago. I guess they don't want too many people to see it.
Karen Hughes did exactly the right thing. They are different people with different roles.
It only makes the GOP look small by even discussing it.
No it doesn't but many will spin it that way. The mind-altered Liberals are used to not being challenged by the nice Conservatives. They have every right to respond in the correct manner which both Hughes and Laura Bush have done.
They should shrug it off.
They did, in the best way possible.This is not just an issue between a sleazy third world woman and the First Lady of the United States it is a fight for the sovereignty and survival of our Country.
The voters have heard of the remark and there is no need to play on it, in fact it would be better not to.
They are not "playing" on it, they are addressing it in a mature and thoughtful manner.
We would be playing right into the hands of the enemy if was not addressed because about half of the voters would believe what T-HeinzKerry said
Yes, they are followers to that degree. One of the major problems with the Republican Party has been their inability to counter the liberal lies and attacks with strength and aplomb. It's good to see.
You just hit a sensitive spot with me. You are absolutely right! A lot of us were raised to be classy ladies (NOT that I've always acted that way, mind you.) But at least the standard was there, and we strived for it. I miss this so much for young gals today. Instead of being held up, admired, respected and treated as priceless vessels of virtue and mystique, young gals today are bombarded with pressure, messages and images of how they ought to flaunt their sexuality, dress and act like sluts (forgive me for my strong language), throw away their virginity to the lowest bidder, and then not to worry about the consequence, as that can be taken care of with a simple "procedure." Give me a break already!
I realize this is NOT the case with all young ladies...I KNOW, my son just married one, thank God! But let's be honest, the trend in our culture/society over the last 40 years has, IMHO, led to such demeaning of women in general, and especially the concept of what it means to be a "classy young lady."
Actually, she did EXACTLY the right thing. And it keeps the entire story in the news cycle for another day or two. . .which should be all it needs to grow legs and knock another point or two off of sKerry. . . .
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