My students were shocked to learn that Kerry is a billionaire by marriage. Odd how even politically active students can be so uninformed about what seems to me to be the first thing you would know about Kerry. We get the information we seek out. I am reading a lot of conservative bloggs so I hear things that are unflattering about Kerry. It seems that Kerry's wealth is something that his supporters do not find attractive about him. Still it was surprising to my students to find out that Bush is the least wealthy of the four people on the major tickets. (I suspect that Cheney is third but that is only because the estimates of Edward's net that I have heard vary between 25 and 50 million). One of the few things that political science is able to tell you is that income has become a less powerful predictor of party identification over the years. The habit of thinking of rich people as automatic Republicans dies hard, though. My Japanese Political theorist roomate asked me why Senator Jay Rockefeller was a Democrat. As if even one exception to this generalization was something that would require some sort of explanation.

This Heinz woman--telling a reporter to shove it. Doesn't she realize that annoying important people is how this poor man feeds his family? Such departures from decorum by a person of her status should not be wasted on a mere reporter. I think Cheney should straighten her out. Allowing such an outburst to be directed at a mere reporter (as oppossed to a fellow member of the Senate or something) is beneath her dignity, Big time! I think though, for all the conservative whining about a double standard, the press's lack of attention to Kerry's wife's indescretion is to our advantage. The more you see of her the less you dislike him.

Fox headline: Is 'The Village' Disney's Fictional 'Fahrenheit?'--No, I think that honor belongs to Michael Moore's Fahrenheit.