Will Teresa Support another 2008 Run?

Questions are arising about whether Senatory Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, will go along with another run for the Presidency.

According to PittsburghLive.com:

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," an unidentified Heinz Kerry friend told the Boston Herald. "Teresa will never do it again."

As an intellligent, assertive, and outspoken woman, she became the target of the right-wing media. Media that would prefer women to be more quiet and submissive to their husbands. Women like Laura Bush.

As Rush Limbaugh explained:

Well, you're nothing but the latest target of a gigolo, Ms. Kerry. You're just the latest target of a gigolo, is what you are, and you've fallen hook, line and sinker for the latest gigolo to come along. His name is John Kerry. If we want to talk about people who have not had real jobs, can we talk about your husband, madam? You want to talk about real jobs?

Or as Ann Coulter attacked:

John Kerry's meal ticket, Teresa Heinz, continuously made remarks that were wildly inappropriate, such as when she strangely referred to the "seven-year itch" in relation to herself and John Kerry, creating at least three images I didn't want in my head. On the other hand, for any voters who considered the most important campaign issue to be whether the first lady was an earthy, condescending foreigner who had traveled extensively and spoke several languages, Teresa was a huge asset.

Surprisingly, Teresa never became a major campaign issue. It turned out that supporters of a phony war hero who preyed on rich widows were also OK with the notion of a first lady who might use the F-word during Rose Garden press conferences.

Teresa, if you are reading any of this, you may rest assured that we can only imagine the pain you felt watching your husband go through the right-wing meat-grinder of Karl Rove politics. And you were part of the target that honored no individual and encouraged no decency. And if you were to recommend that John Kerry not run in 2008, well I would have to ask Senator Kerry to respect your wishes.

But America needs John Kerry as President. It was the job he was born to fill. It is his place in History.

I have never been more convinced of this. I am sure you understand and share my feelings. He should have won in 2004. The problems facing America are not going away. The attacks on the environment continue. The erosion of civil rights threatens the least-advantaged of our society. Social Security and even Medicaid is under attack. World peace is threatened and the new Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war to "spread freedom" is sending chills through the bones of our allies.

America can and will do better. And I believe that John Kerry is the one to lead that cause. And you are the woman with the brains, the heart, the skills, and the compassion to share that stage with him on this most important mission.

Bob