Ideas are apparently a fashion faux pas these days, especially if you’re Theresa Heinz-Kerry. Recent statements reveal that anger is more important in determining Heinz-Kerry’s political stance:
Teresa Heinz Kerry says anger, not ideology, prompted her to become a Democrat. The wife of Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, says her emotion stemmed from the way the Republican Party, to which she had pledged allegiance, treated Democratic Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia in 2002.
Republicans had attacked Cleland on a policy issue. Heinz-Kerry, never the ideologue, thought this was unfair because Sen. Cleland is a triple amputee. Heinz-Kerry thought this was reason enough to switch parties.
After all, a triple amputee can’t stand up for himself physically, so how could Cleland have expected to defend his ideas? How dare the Republicans pick on this poor veteran and expect him to defend himself?
Heinz-Kerry’s anti-idealism betrays her bias toward the handicapped. If Sen. Cleland had made it that far with his physical challenges, why would he not be expected to be treated like any other Senator? Does anyone really want someone who will change parties over one angry issue to be in the White House? Would she become a communist if democracy makes her unhappy?