John Kerry - Not a regular guy

John Kerry was snowboarding in Sun Valley for a little rest and relaxation. The way he relaxes may say more about the man than any speech he could have possibly given. And what it is saying isn’t very positive.

The New York Times had this article that described that Senator’s vacation.

Two lines from the article really struck me. The first described an accident Kerry had with one of his new detail of secret service agents. At the top of the mountain during Kerry’s second run of the day an agent became entangled with the Senator and both fell down.

When asked about the mishap a moment later, he [Kerry] said sharply, "I don't fall down," then used an expletive to describe the agent who "knocked me over."

Wow! This sounds like the way a pampered playboy would berate a butler that put out black shoes and a brown belt or a the way the privileged would speak about a waiter who brought the wrong wine. That’s not the way a Presidential candidate should be treating or talking about a man whose job is take a bullet for the candidate if necessary.

Wow! If this is how flustered Kerry gets over a simple accident while skiing – how flustered would he become as President and he had to deal with a situation where the shit really hit the fan?

The second line from the article that really resonated was:

"People of great fame and wealth can come here [Sun Valley], and people don't invade their privacy," said one visitor, Larry Nast of Bellevue, Wash.

That line really drives home the fact that Kerry is not a man of the people. He is a person of great fame and wealth. He is a man of privilege and entitlement. In my opinion – Kerry would have been much better served going to Florida and catching a couple Spring Training games if he really wanted to relax and at the same time improve his image. (Plus Florida has 25 electoral votes and Idaho only has 4).

The whole episode made me think of two other Kerry anecdotes.

The first was from Dave Barry who noted the time”… Sen. John Kerry, who once came, with his entourage, into a ski-rental shop in Ketchum, Idaho, where I was waiting patiently with my family to rent snowboards, and Sen. Kerry used one of his lackeys to flagrantly barge in line ahead of us and everybody else, as if he had some urgent senatorial need for a snowboard, like there was about to be an emergency meeting, out on the slopes, of the Joint Halfpipe Committee.”

The other anecdote came from Baseball Musings’ David Pinto - who noted that Peter Gammons (who played hockey against Kerry in high school) called Kerry “the dirtiest player he ever saw.”

The Bush campaign folks should stop running negative ads – they should just get Kerry out for more winter sports. They should also pray for early snow in October. Kerry probably won’t be able to resist sneaking away for a few runs down the slope and he probably won’t be able to keep his true character from coming out either.