“Can we get any of my water?” he asked Stephanie Cutter, his communications director, who dutifully scurried from the room. I asked Kerry, out of sheer curiosity, what he didn’t like about Evian.
“I hate that stuff,” Kerry explained to me. “They pack it full of minerals.”
“What kind of water do you drink?” I asked, trying to make conversation.
“Plain old American water,” he said.
“You mean tap water?”
“No … There are all kinds of waters,” he said finally. Pause. “Saratoga Spring. … Sometimes I drink tap water,” he added.
You can almost physically see the thoughts flashing through his brain:
Evian: French. I don’t like it, and the freaking republicans will castigate me for French water.
American water..hah! Got’em. Feeling good!
Oh wait, tap water, geez never touch the vile stuff, but if I admit this, they’ll crucify me as being a effete water snob.
Tap water. Yum.
LOL. It is amazing what minutiae you Republicans seize upon. And I am amazed that any Canadian follows American politics to the degree that you do Kate. I really think you should consider moving to Montanna so you can vote in the next election.
Todd —
The water thing, it’s funny. You know, like Buster Keaton slipping on a banana peel, or a like a movie about a rich guy who has to persuade the world that he’s an ordinary, middle-class American, but he just can’t quite bring it off.
It’s only a subplot to the election, but it’s the comic relief subplot.
But you have to follow it to enjoy it.
You’re right and I did find it funny. Politicians running for president are *not* ordinary people and they really have a hard time making anyone believe they understand the issues at the working class level.
Yeah, it’s funny and the hesitation is a little revealing. A politician comfortable in his own skin wouldn’t have a problem saying what kind of water he drinks, but one inordinately consumed by projecting a false image has to calculate every move.
That on the morning after drinking Teddy’s “water!”
What I read was Kerry checking himself at the door of a contradiction. Saratoga Springs is historically noted for having mineral-rich spring waters. Had he known his blue Saratoga bottles contain essentially carbonated tap water, and there are no Saratoga Springs mineral waters bottled today, he could have said “Saratoga Water” without compunction.