Kerry Camp Spins Its Wheels
From The Washington Times
By Charles Hurt
July 24, 2004
AURORA, Colo. -- Sen. John Kerry spoke about the plight of the American worker when he traveled to Detroit earlier this week, a safe message for the blue-collar workers who build cars there.
So it was a little strange that the campaign picked as its press-pass logo for its Motor City tour the gleaming showcase car of a foreign auto company -- Rolls-Royce -- that makes cars priced far outside the financial reach of any middle-class voter.
"That's an insult to the auto worker, it's an insult to the American worker, it's an insult to mainstream America," said Sam Burwell from Corunna, Mich., a third-generation auto worker for General Motors. "It also shows who he's really in touch with: his European, elitist French friends and not Americans like me. A Rolls-Royce, for cryin' out loud."
The Kerry-Edwards traveling press pass was designed by Mr. Kerry's campaign advance team in Michigan and distributed to the reporters who flew with him to Detroit to attend the 2004 National Urban League Conference. Dominating the pass is the photograph of a Rolls-Royce 100EX, an opulent convertible complete with the famed "Spirit of Ecstasy" hood ornament. …
Bill Ballenger, editor of Inside Michigan Politics newsletter, said the Kerry campaign may have thought that since Mr. Kerry was addressing the Urban League, a civil rights organization, and not an auto industry group, such a snafu would go unnoticed.
"The whole reason the black population, or just about any population, is here is because of the auto industry," he said. "It's a bone-headed play by Team Kerry." …
As the Yale-educated son of a diplomat who married ketchup heiress Teresa Heinz Kerry -- who is worth more than $500 million -- Mr. Kerry already faces some obstacles connecting with America's middle-class workers.
"Kerry needs to spend the campaign not behaving like an elitist and not giving voters a reason to remember that he and his wife have a lot of money," said Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report. "It doesn't help him connect with the average voter." …
The Rolls-Royce 100EX -- an experimental car not in full production yet -- features cashmere lining under the hood and dark Curzon leather upholstery, mahogany and teak wood inside the passenger cabin. …
The only Rolls-Royce in production today -- the Phantom -- starts at $324,000.
"The Detroit trip was right after his Nantucket trip, right?" asked Miss Duffy, referring to Mr. Kerry's summer home on the exclusive island of Nantucket off the coast of Massachusetts. "Maybe it was a tough transition for him." …
