Has The Freedom Of The Press Been Chill(i)ed?

President Bush I took a lot of guff because he was so out of touch that he didn’t know the price of a half-gallon of milk. Why, then, hasn’t more attention been paid to Teresa’s lack of familiarity with chili? At least the story seems to play well in Peoria:

A recent under-the-radar campaign story told of an anniversary tradition of Democratic vice presidental candidate John Edwards and wife Elizabeth. On their wedding date, they repeat what they did the night of their vows: They stop at a Wendy’s.

So, last Friday, they did the same, at a Wendy’s in the town of Newberg, N.Y. As 30 campaign buses idled outside, they munched a burger and fries, then split a Frosty. Awwww.

But they weren’t alone. They double-dated with Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and wife Teresa Heinz Kerry.

Smart move – a chance for a stuffed shirt like Kerry to look like a regular guy. But Heinz Kerry came off as clueless.

At the counter, she wasn’t sure what to order — apparently because she doesn’t understand what people eat in burger joints. According to The Associated Press, she “pointed at a picture of chili and asked the cashier what it was.”

DESSERT [4 August 5:15PM]

Hold your horses! Turns out that that anniversary “lunch” at Wendys with the common folks was a photo-op fake.

While Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, and their families were having a “lite” lunch at Wendy’s in the Town of Newburgh Friday, drumming up local support right after the national convention in Boston, their real lunches were waiting on their bus.

A member of the Kerry advance team called Nikola’s Restaurant at the Newburgh Yacht Club the night before and ordered 19 five-star lunches to go that would be picked up at noon Friday. Management at the restaurant, which is operated by CIA graduate chef Michael Dederick, was told the meals would be for the Kerry and Edwards families and actor Ben Affleck who was with them on the tour.

The gourmet meals to go included shrimp vindallo, grilled diver sea scallops, prosciutto, wrapped stuffed chicken, and steak salad. The meals came to about $200.

Say What? (8)

  1. Gus M August 4, 2004 at 2:25 pm | | Reply

    Check out this Steyn column (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/08/03/do0302.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/08/03/ixopinion.html). He describes what else happened in the Wendy’s restaurant and afterwards:

    * Kerry approached a group of Marines for a photo op moment. The Marines later complained to reporters about being ambushed and said they were Bush supporters.

    * “The campaign advance team had ordered 19 five-star lunches from the Newburgh Yacht Club.” The tour bus was full of catered sea food. Kerry and Edwards didn’t just eat Wendy’s.

  2. actus August 4, 2004 at 6:28 pm | | Reply

    I took a long break from fast food for awhile. When I went back once I got sick.

  3. Gus M August 4, 2004 at 6:37 pm | | Reply

    If the lunches were $200 each, that would be a problem. But if it was $200 for 19 lunches, that’s cheaper than, say, Cheesecake Factory and is not what most would consider “five-star” lunches.

  4. Nels Nelson August 4, 2004 at 9:20 pm | | Reply

    From reading a few online reviews that restaurant looks okay but I’m not sure who declared it “five-star.” And it’s definitely around $10 (rather than $200) a person from looking at their prices.

    This is just more “Bush doesn’t want to eat his broccoli” or “Gore said he invented the internet” crap (please excuse the language) that prevents substantive issues from being discussed.

  5. nobody important August 5, 2004 at 11:38 am | | Reply

    It prevents more substantive issues from being discussed? Political discussion is a zero-sum game?

  6. Cobra August 5, 2004 at 11:57 am | | Reply

    In the interest of being “fair and balanced”, here’s a link to Tim Wise’s article on Laura Bush’s photo op at a “terrorist target site” building the other day.

    http://www.blackcommentator.com/31/31_guest_commentary.html

    –Cobra

  7. Nels Nelson August 5, 2004 at 6:11 pm | | Reply

    This isn’t political discussion, nobody important. Kerry’s Botox treatments and Cheney’s use of the F-word in private conversations belong on Entertainment Tonight right after the J-Lo and Justin Timberlake lead-ins.

    That Kerry spoke to a table of Marines who voiced displeasure with him is worthy news. That a member of Kerry’s staff ordered some lunches that may have been consumed after the stop at Wendy’s is trash.

  8. Gary Long August 29, 2004 at 5:48 pm | | Reply

    Sorry, Nels, but character really does matter.

    When Kerry presents himself as a “Man of the People,” then proceeds to do a photo-op at Wendy’s before retiring to his tour bus to dine on a menu catered by the local yacht club, that’s a key indicator.

    Can you say “Phony”? He wants to rule as president, not serve. I don’t want or need health insurance, but he would impose it on me.

    That’s not compassion. It’s tyranny.

Say What?