Heinz Kerry rebukes heckler; crowd cheer
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| Mon, 09-27-2004 - 2:10pm |
PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) - A group of 600 Democrats crowded the 4H Auditorium at the State Fairgrounds Friday hoping to see for themselves whether presidential candidate John Kerry's wife was as outspoken and sharp-tongued as some have described her.
Teresa Heinz Kerry delivered for her supporters when she talked back to a heckler who implied her husband's a flip-flopper.
During a question and answer session, a young man demanded to know why Kerry voted to give Bush authority to attack Iraq but voted against an $87 billion appropriation bill to support the war effort there.
"Is that the kind of thing he would do as president?," the man asked.
Heinz Kerry sharply asked the man whether he had read the legislation that was voted on.
When he said no, she told him that Kerry had supported $60 billion in military appropriations for Iraq, but would not vote for the full $87 billion because he considered it a "blank check." Kerry was one of 11 Democrats to vote against the bill.
"And we knew they'd already given Haliburton millions in no-bid contracts," she snapped, referring to the company formerly led by Vice President Dick Cheney.
"If you want to say (Kerry) flip-flopped, just say so, don't try to hide," Heinz Kerry scolded.
The young man responsed with chanting "Four more years!" as he walked out of the auditorium. The partisan crowd's cheer of "Six more weeks!" quickly drowned him out.
Roberto Costales of Canon City liked the way she dealt with her heckler.
"Did you notice how she handled that one guy? I bet she doesn't back down from anybody," he laughed.
In appearances here and before a crowd of 1,700 in Fort Collins, Heinz Kerry echoed her husband's views about terrorism, national security, crime, health care and education.
She said the United States needs a different approach in the world.
"The way we live in peace in a family, in a marriage, in the world, is not by threatening people, is not by showing off your muscles. It's by listening, by giving a hand sometimes, by being intelligent, by being open and by setting high standards," she said at the CSU rally.
In Pueblo, Heinz Kerry sounded a similar theme, criticizing the Bush administration for sending warning signals to Iran about developing nuclear weapons.
"There are about 50 countries in the world that have the capability to build nuclear weapons. Are we going to attack them all?" she said.
Gina Maggrett, of Pueblo, liked what she heard.
"(She's portrayed) as this caustic person but I thought she was really warm and intelligent. A lovely person," she said.

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It doesnt make it right, but there is a distinct difference between the two.
The last time anyone listened to a Bush, they were lost for 40 years! Looks like we're doomed to "wander" ano
Well, since I wasn't there and don't know why this happened, or what the protestors may have done, that's really pretty meaningless to me. If they were acting lawfully they probably ought to sue the police for wrongful arrest or brutality, my guess is they were probably trespassing or being threatening in some way to warrant that kind of treatment. In any case I highly doubt that George W. Bush had anything to do with how they were treated.
< In any case I highly doubt that George W. Bush had anything to do with how they were treated.>
I hold him accountable for plenty-security and law enforcement at his speaking engagements is probably not something that he (or his contender, for that matter) have much control over. Try living in the world of reality, not some fantasy world where W rounds up all the police before his speaking engagement and says, "OK fellas, anyone who disagrees with me is outta here, I don't care how much you have to rough 'em up..."
"Patriotism means to stand by the Country. It does not mean to stand by the President." -- Theodore Roosevelt.
we dislike her because she's a tax and spend, big government loving liberal with a proven track record of dishonesty in both her business and personal dealings.
An incredibly well written and thought out post. Unfortunately the person you wrote it to did not read it all they said.
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