Inside Politics

Caught on video

“The Republicans have done it again when it comes to Sen. John Kerry’s flip-flopping statements on owning an SUV,” Washington Whispers columnist Paul Bedard writes at www.usnews.com.

“In the latest installment, the GOP has found video of Kerry telling environmentally conscious New Hampshire voters that he sold his gas guzzlers to buy fuel-efficient autos, and just one month later, in Michigan car country, giving a long list of big-engine vehicles he owns — including two SUVs, one imported,” Mr. Bedard said.

Ed Gillespie, the Republican Party chairman, was scheduled to present the videos last night during a speech in Sheldon, Iowa, the columnist said. “His point: Kerry says whatever he thinks voters want to hear. It’s the latest twist in the SUV saga. First Kerry denied having one; then he said it was his wife’s. Now, he’s saying he sold his gas hogs only to brag a month later about owning a ’big Suburban.’

“In the new video, he’s asked at a New Hampshire rally what he’s done to reduce the dependency on oil. Says Kerry, ’I sold my gas guzzler and got a van and downgraded, that’s what I did personally, in my own life. Also got an economical car in Washington and so forth so that I was trying to live up to that standard.’

“But in the second video, shot a month later in Michigan, he lists his autos: ’I own a Dodge 600 that I’ve had for about 20 years; I own a Chrysler 300M; we have a Chrysler van, a minivan; a Chrysler PT Cruiser (I guess Chrysler is making out here); a Suburban Chevy — big Suburban — and she has a Land Rover Defender.’ ”

So long, liberals

“Democrats are being advised to run … from the liberal label, and instead recast themselves as ’progressives,’ according to a private report by the liberal think tank The Center for American Progress,” CNN’s Steve Turnham writes in the Morning Grind column at www.cnn.com.

“The report, based on extensive voter focus groups and a private national poll found that the ’right’ has succeeded in defining Democrats as liberal. And that, apparently, is very bad. ’The word liberal is associated closely with a well-meaning, admirable, but ultimately weak, naive and ineffective approach to politics and governance,’ said the report, which was presented last week by PowerPoint to a closed meeting of Senate Democrats,” Mr. Turnham said.

“It advised a concerted party effort to adopt a new label, ’progressive,’ which, while still poorly defined, ’is overwhelmingly associated with positive attributes.’

“The Center for American Progress is run by former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta and is often described as an ideas factory for Hillary Clinton’s ’08 campaign.

“The report offers some practical advice:

“Use the terms ’middle class’ and ’for the people by the people.’; never say that government is the solution to our problems; call on Americans to sacrifice for the greater good; invoke ’moral’ and ’religious’ values and say ’We believe in taking strong military action if we are threatened.’ ”

Mrs. Kerry interview

Teresa Heinz Kerry told Barbara Walters, in an interview to air tonight on ABC’s “20/20,” that she had a miscarriage more than 30 years ago after a doctor recommended that she abort her pregnancy.

The wife of Democratic presidential contender John Kerry said she had been taking cortisone early in her pregnancy, but a miscarriage rendered the planned abortion moot.

Mrs. Kerry said that during her first marriage, she wanted a fourth child after the birth of her son Christopher in March 1973. She said she had a “severe reaction to something,” was taking cortisone medicine and did not realize she was pregnant. Studies have implicated cortisone use by pregnant women in birth defects.

“I told my doctor I think I’m pregnant and … he said, ’Well, then if you’re pregnant, you have to abort that baby.’

“I was very upset. … I didn’t want to have an abortion, but they gave me 15 days because it was early and the night before I was due to go in, I miscarried it. So God was very kind,” she said.

Despite the misgivings she described, Mrs. Kerry said she is pro-choice “because I’d like to have that choice myself.”

“I presume that most women will look at a choice like that as a terrible choice. But they should be given the chance to make it as I was,” she said.

Mrs. Kerry and her first husband, the late Sen. John Heinz, Pennsylvania Democrat, have three sons. Mr. Kerry has two daughters from a previous marriage.

Convention argument

A day after a top Republican National Convention official said the area around Madison Square Garden might be locked down, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg asserted Wednesday that he was in charge and assured the city there would be minimal disruption.

“The NYPD will carry out the instructions that I gave them and that’s to make this a safe convention with as minimal disruptions as possible to the public,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “This is going to be a convention where we will make it safe, but if you’re in any area outside of the garment district, you probably won’t even know that the convention is in town. The city is big. The city accommodates crowds and events all the time.”

On Tuesday, Mike Miller, director of Republican convention operations, told reporters that the Secret Service and the Police Department would lock down the area around the arena as early as three days before the convention, scheduled from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.

The security plan is being drafted jointly by the NYPD, the Secret Service and other federal agencies, and has not been finalized, the Associated Press reports.

Mr. Bloomberg on Wednesday bristled at Mr. Miller’s remarks, saying, “Mr. Miller was speaking without knowledge.”

Pledging education

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry pledged yesterday to channel $30 billion over 10 years to improve teacher pay as well as raise teaching standards, including bonuses of up to $5,000 for those who teach math and science or work in high-need schools.

The program would tap a $200 billion education trust fund established with money from the repeal of President Bush’s tax breaks for those earning more than $200,000 a year, the Kerry campaign said.

“It’s time for a new bargain with America’s teachers and children. I will offer teachers more, and I will ask for more in return,” Mr. Kerry said. He was visiting a school as he concluded a three-day education tour.

The plan called for rigorous testing for new teachers and would require fast but fair procedures for improving or replacing teachers who perform poorly.

The plan also proposed establishing mentoring programs to link new teachers with experienced peers and using technology to set up teacher voice-mail boxes and post homework assignments on the Web.

• Greg Pierce can be reached at 202/636-3285 or gpierce@@washingtontimes.com.