September 3, 2004

Photo: Jen Fariello

By Dan Heuchert

The whirlwind that is the presidential campaign touched down on Grounds Thursday, as Vanessa Kerry, the 27-year-old daughter of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John F. Kerry, was dispatched to the University for a question-and-answer session with students.

Naturally, politics professor and nationally recognized pundit Larry Sabato was in the middle of it. His Center for Politics —specifically, its National Symposium on Youth Civic Engagement — sponsored the appearance. The center had originally issued invitations to both the daughters of Kerry and of President Bush to take part in a Sept. 19 panel discussion; on Tuesday night, a Kerry campaign official called to ask if Vanessa could stop in on Thursday. The event was quickly arranged.

While Kerry’s appearance likely won’t make national news, it did provide a fascinating glimpse into the helter-skelter world of presidential campaigning.

Ten minutes before the scheduled 11 a.m. start time, a standing-room-only crowd was already building in the Newcomb Hall Ballroom, despite the event having been publicly announced less than 24 hours earlier. “Kerry/Edwards” signs sprouted in the lobby; the dark-blue podium featured “Center for Politics” signage.

Kerry arrived around 10:54 and was immediately whisked into a makeshift press area in the Commonwealth Room for a couple of quick interviews.

It was immediately clear that she is bright, savvy and well-prepared. She wore a casual, student-friendly outfit: a modest, knee-length blue denim skirt, a simple red T-shirt-style top accented with a Kerry/Edwards sticker (and a second one on her bare arm) and a few turquoise-colored necklaces of various lengths and widths. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was loosely pulled back, revealing eyes and a nose that were clearly of Kerry lineage.

Poised, she answered a radio journalist’s questions articulately and assertively, quickly reaching the themes and issues she wanted to emphasize — as might be expected from a Yale graduate currently taking a semester’s leave from Harvard’s medical school. Her hands, nervously thrust into her shallow skirt pockets, offered the only hint that she had only recently been thrown into the media spotlight, participating for the first time in one of her father’s campaigns.

After each interview, she looked the interviewer in the eye and politely thanked them for coming, while her designated assistant called, “Next!”

A Roanoke TV crew jumped in, asking her to first read a lead-in for the evening newscast. She quickly looked it over, then politely demurred until after the interview. “It depends how snarky the questions are,” she said, quickly adding, “I’ll probably do it. Ninety percent chance.”

The interview again went smoothly, with Kerry hitting her desired themes. As the crew prepared to tape the lead-in, she turned to the dozen or so people waiting and asked, very reasonably, “Can we just chill the background noise for a sec? I’m really sorry.”

A moment later, she apologized. “Sorry if I was really rude. I don’t mean to be rude.” She taped the news lead-in — “NewsChannel 10 at 6 starts now!” — before Sabato intervened and steered her toward the ballroom.

As she headed in to face the students, she told her handler, “I think I got a little snarky with them there.” Apparently, being a candidate’s daughter creates pressure to be on one’s best behavior all the time, as Jenna Bush recently discovered earlier this summer when she playfully stuck out her tongue at a reporter from the back seat of a limo and soon found her picture plastered all over the news.

Inside the ballroom, a crowd of about 400 waited excitedly. Sabato did the introduction, plugging his center, recognizing various politicos in the audience before bringing Kerry on. “We’re thrilled to have her at the University of Virginia, where she should have gone,” he said, drawing laughs.

Kerry climbed onstage to a huge ovation, then grabbed the mic and stepped out from behind the podium. “I’m not a podium person,” she explained. “They really freak me out, so please forgive me.”

She made a polite quip, asking how Sabato’s “Crystal Ball” Web site was treating her father.

“It’s going well for you,” Sabato answered.

“Great!” she said, then launched into her message. The youth vote is important, she said, noting that 40 million young Americans were eligible to vote, that the 2000 election was decided by 537 votes in Florida — “that’s less than a dorm” — and claiming that the race in Virginia was a toss-up.

She segued into a run-through of the chosen points of emphasis: her father’s plans for controlling college costs, creating jobs for future college grads, and providing affordable health care. She stumbled a little over one phrase, and again apologized endearingly. “I’m really tired. I can’t speak English anymore.”

Then it was time to take questions from the floor. At Sabato’s urging, lines formed behind a pair of microphone stands in each aisle.

The first question came from a Law school graduate, class of 1967, who asked for three reasons to vote for John Kerry. Vanessa Kerry skipped policy stances and talked about her father’s integrity, sense of justice and passion for what he wants to do.

Then she trained her sights on the Republicans, unleashing her strongest rhetoric of the event. Clearly angry at the treatment her father was getting at the Republican National Convention, she charged, “They’re talking in a way that creates fear, creates anger and hate.” She lamented the “smears and lies” spread by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, with tacit endorsement, she charged, from the Bush campaign.
The questions were polite and well-informed, as were the answers. She admitted being not completely up to speed on her father’s stand on the Israelis’ anti-Palestinian security fence, but promised to e-mail the questioner, and anybody else who was interested, a more complete response. (Apparently, being a candidate’s daughter also means that you can’t risk misrepresenting your father’s stands.)
She drew applause for asserting that African Americans still face a “separate but unequal” society, and for declaring that her father “has one of the two best environmental records on Capitol Hill.”

The last question dealt with her father’s take on the Iraq war, and she hit it out of the park. “People say you shouldn’t change horses in the middle of battle, but this horse has no legs, so I think it’s time for a change,” she declared, drawing loud applause.

Sabato closed the questioning, prompting a standing ovation. Kerry remained at the front of the room, becoming the center of a small throng in front of the stage.
Shahad Zaman, a fourth-year student from Saginaw, Mich., and a Kerry supporter, stood near an exit. He had attended other Kerry campaign appearances and said he heard nothing really new. “But I think it was very admirable that she came out to energize the youth vote,” he added.

Nearby, Armita Schacht, a fourth-year from Herndon whose sociology professor dismissed class early to allow students to attend the event, also expressed gratitude for the Kerry campaign’s effort to reach younger voters. John Kerry’s convention speech seemed aimed at an older audience, she said. “It’s exciting to have someone from the campaign here.”

At the front of the room, Joshua Scott beamed. Scott heads the Center for Politics’ afore-mentioned National Symposium on Youth Civic Engagement, and had been at the center of the fevered preparation for Kerry’s appearance.

“We’re so pleased with the turnout, especially with it being one of the first days of classes,” he said, then headed off to liberate Kerry from the knot that still surrounded her.

A few moments later, Kerry was back in front of TV cameras in the Commonwealth Room, expertly threading a lapel mic through her shirt before answering more questions with the same careful, even tone. Finally, it was the print reporters’ turn, as campaign officials nervously checked their watches.

She was asked about the Bush daughters, but her answer could easily have been about herself. “I think it takes a lot of courage to do anything that brings you into the public eye when it’s not your job,” she said.

She was asked if the involvement of candidates’ families was good for politics, or if it contributed to an unhealthy focus on personalities. She paused. “My siblings and I are committed to talking about policies,” she said. “My job is to talk about the candidates, ideas and policies, I do encourage the focus to stay there.”

Toward that end, she carries with her briefing books, which she said she studies. “I do my best to be the best representative that I can.”

Is it worth the disruption?

“There’s a lot of shoving food in your mouth in the front seat of the car, a lot of coffee,” she said.

“But I get to witness history first-hand.”

She posed for one last photo before handlers politely ushered the media out, asking for a little “down time.”

It was 12:18. She was due in Harrisonburg for a 2 p.m. appearance at James Madison University.