Heinz Kerry visits Valley

By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said negative campaigning against her husband is backfiring on President Bush.
Heinz Kerry spoke Tuesday at the Austintown public library with a group of 12 people, either members of the military or those who have family members on active military duty.
She discussed the plans of her husband, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, to improve benefits to members of the military. The event was closed to the general public.
During a press conference after the event, Heinz Kerry said complaints that her husband has flip-flopped on a number of issues -- including the war in Iraq and the North American Free Trade Agreement -- don't bother her at all.
"I know who's saying it and it's all politics, politics, dirty politics," Heinz Kerry said.
She then took a shot at Bush.
"This is the biggest say-one-thing-and-do-another administration in U.S. history, period," Heinz Kerry said. "There's nothing wrong with changing your mind about issues. Issues change and so do opinions."
GOP reaction
Heather Layman, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said it is Kerry who says one thing and does another.
"That type of inconsistency isn't what people want in a leader," she said during a telephone interview. "For John Kerry and the Democrats, anger has taken the place of a positive agenda for this country."
Heinz Kerry said Bush's campaign and Republican officials have spent $77 million on advertising in recent weeks to attack her husband in certain states, including Ohio.
"People are smart, and they know better," she said. "The American people don't like that."
If Kerry is elected president in November, Heinz Kerry would continue her philanthropic work with the Heinz Foundation, she said.
"I wouldn't give up a thing," she said. Campaigning "hasn't affected my work."
Heinz Kerry described campaigning for her husband as "grueling," and mentioned that she gained 15 pounds on the campaign. But she had a couple of days of rest before Tuesday's event and was feeling "very perky right now," she added.
Heinz Kerry said she was glad that she was 65 years old campaigning, and not much younger. But she mentioned she might prefer to be 57, which sounded like a joke related to the Heinz Co.'s famous "57 varieties" slogan.
Before marrying Kerry in 1995, she was married for 25 years to U.S. Sen. John Heinz of Pittsburgh, who died in a 1991 plane crash.
"If I was 40 years old, I'd be panicked," she said. "Now, I stay focused and I listen to people."
What works best
Heinz Kerry said she prefers intimate settings with small groups so people can relate specific experiences. She spoke to about 150 people in February at Oakhill Renaissance Place in Youngstown in February.
"They don't want to hear a canned speech or discuss positions," she said. "They want to hear what you think."
Her husband held a campaign rally with a prepared speech in front of about 1,000 people in downtown Youngstown in April. It was his second visit to the Mahoning Valley.
Bush visited the Valley last week holding an invitation-only discussion on community health care at Youngstown State University.
Ohio is considered a key battleground state in the November election. Heinz Kerry agreed, saying her husband has to win Ohio for him to capture the presidency in November.
During Heinz Kerry's discussion with the dozen people, she spoke about a few of her husband's initiatives, including expanding health care benefits and lowering its costs, and creating a program to allow qualified people to receive free education at a state university in exchange for two years of public service. She also offered advice to the participants regarding their specific situations.
Of those invited to participate in the event, four were related to state Rep. John Boccieri of New Middletown, D-61st. They were his wife, Stacey; her mother; and Boccieri's parents. Boccieri, a major in the Air Force reserves, returned to active military duty overseas this past weekend.
Those who participated in the discussion were impressed with Heinz Kerry.
"I thought Mrs. Heinz Kerry was very genuine and real," said Shannon Royea of Austintown, whose husband, Staff Sgt. Ralph Royea, has been in the Middle East for the past three months. "She was so down-to-earth. She was amazing."
Royea said she was invited to the event after she called the office of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, a few hours before Tuesday's event and asked to participate.
Ryan and U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, attended Tuesday's event.
From the library, Heinz Kerry visited locked-out workers at RMI Titanium Co. in Weathersfield Township, and then attended a private event with local supporters at MVI HomeCare in Liberty.
skolnick@vindy.com