Katrina Vanden Heuvel: Teresa Heinz Was Right

Teresa Heinz Was Right

At a 1993 press conference, when Teresa Heinz-Kerry declined to run for her late husband's Pennsylvania Senate seat, she explained, "the best ideas for change unfortunately no longer come from political campaigns." She added: "Today, political campaigns are the graveyard of real ideas and the birthplace of empty promises."

Forgoing a Senate race, Heinz-Kerry instead took the reins of the Howard Heinz Endowment and became a board member of the Vira I. Heinz Endowment . Under her leadership, the foundations has supported smart environmental and women's programs.

Heinz-Kerry's statement was prophetic. Now more than at any time in recent memory, too many politicians--and their campaigns--lack the courage to debate, let alone adopt, big ideas in this country. As a result, America has a downsized politics of excluded alternatives. And, as Heinz- Kerry argued, we've lost sight of big ambitions.

Polls, 30-second attack ads and partisan sniping often drown out serious policy debates. The mainstream media shoulders a lot of the blame as well. Too often, the press, enthralled with scandals, fails to cover ideas and issues. The media is instead obsessed with the politics of style--the candidates' hair, clothes, favorite sports, vacation plans, and, of course, wives. After campaign debates, reporters descend on so-called Spin Alleys, where consultants dissemble, and journalists lap up the PR offensives.

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Teresa Heinz Was Right

write an article that criticizes someone's hairstyle or the clothes they wear? To a seasoned writer, it takes as much fore-thought as doodling. The article just flows as a creative writing piece -- words tumble out of your head as word associations. The creative writer doesn't have to spend all too much time thinking about the facts of the story nor researching them. That's what makes the difference between a creative writer and a real reporter.

The difference between the two should be drilled home, because it will help us separate the real reporters from the fluff.