August 5, 2004
HANNIBAL, Mo. -- Forget polite sensibilities. Many women along the Democratic campaign trail are telling Teresa Heinz Kerry to keep speaking her mind. To them, the sassy, gabby wife of presidential candidate John Kerry is a key part of the package they want to put in the White House.
These women don't care that Heinz Kerry doesn't always follow the etiquette rules for potential first ladies. Like when she marches up to a persistent reporter and tells him to "shove it" or when she tells Republican hecklers that they want "four more years of hell."
Dawn Davis of Muscatine, Iowa, excitedly greeted Heinz Kerry as the tour came through her home state Wednesday. Davis says she isn't ashamed to acknowledge that she's been known to tell people to shove it and go to hell. Just thinking about all the criticism of Heinz Kerry was enough to get her going.
"Women should not feel that they should kowtow to anyone else's option," Davis said in a rapid-fire rant. "I told her, you keep speaking your mind and don't let them change you. They just criticize her because they don't have anything else to hang it on. And that's the truth."
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-heinz-kerry,0,1426105.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines