She must have waited until it looked like Kerry had no chance at the nomination to tell her story. If Dean were cruising right now instead of Kerry, this would be mildly interesting but now it's of utmost importance to Democrats and the media. Obviously she miscalculated...

My younger brother has deduced that this really is a right wing conspiracy ... though not a particularly vast one. The "channel" is Fox, and both Limbaugh and Drudge have central roles.

The relationship was hardly one to set the ladies' hearts a-flutter. There are handwritten letters involved. The story will trickle out from the UK, and will steadily put pressure on Kerry, the DNC, the major U.S. media outlets, and the Palm Beach State's Attorney. Until something snaps.

She's a Democrat, why would she do the interview with Fox?

And is there a sexual assault involved? Why the Palm Beach State's Attorney? Does Kerry have a house there?

Sounds like your brother is jumping way ahead of reports, Mycroft.

She knows what happened to Monica (and Paula, and Juanita, and Gennifer, and on and on), so she is laying low. Payoffs? Maybe. Pressure? Certainly. Avoidance of the glare? Definitely.

Fear of Teresa? Possible.

Fox is too attuned to their own politics to treat this story in such a manner. It would LOOK like a severe hatchet job, truth or not, and would not serve the interests of Kerry's opponents OR the media itself. (Remember Schwarzenagger and the LA Times. I think it's generally assumed that the 'Gropenfuhrer' stories were true, but they hurt the Times and helped him).

If this plays out the way the Sun writes, I'm not sure that this won't hurt whatever network, or the media in general, more than it would Kerry.

The Brits are sure having fun with this story, no? With zero competition from the "respectable" American media, they've got a free shot at the girl and her saga.

At least it's entertaining, compared to the snoozer Bush National Guard story. Sex with Lurch. It's a, er, hoot.

Mycroft:

You say, "The "channel" is Fox, and both Limbaugh and Drudge have central roles."

Since when is Don Imus part of the VRWC? It was Imus, not Limbaugh or Fox, who "broke" the story into the mainstream news media, giving them "permission" to comment without guilt about the whole affair. It occurred in the early AM of Friday. The quotes, all taken from Imus' show, were then carried by all the radio (and I'm assuming the TV as well) news organizations.

In addition, Drudge merely puts out what others are already doing. He beat Newsweek to the punch with the Monica Lewinsky story, and apparently ABC and Time (among others) have been working on the Kerry story. The name Drudge may be invoked by the Democrats to smear the messenger, but the real issue is with the mainstream media: what do they know and when did they know it?

So if this is correct a US TV network (ABC?) has had this since xmas and has reported nothing? Why did they hold onto it?
As for above comments I can see skepticism if Fox is the TV network but if it is part of the normal media (ABC, CBS, etc) then cries of VRWC are laughable.

Actually, old chaps, my brother is not infallible where clever women are central to the plot. (See: Irene Adler.)

In this particular case, my own reading of Watson's journals suggests the rumour is being peddled by a close female friend of Ms. Polier. It is this friend who has been taped, and it is she who has the letters. While the Murdoch media holdings are most assuredly involved, the U.S. channel holding the tape is not Fox.

Brother should really titrate his solution more carefully. It is obviously well in excess of 7%.

This story is getting confusing. Offsetting this article saying a tell-all tape has been created is an AP article saying that she and her parents are denying everything.
Somebody is very wrong on this, will have to see who.

Why has no one mentioned that Democratic operative Chris Lehane is the most likely original source? He was doing opposition research for Clark campaign; then Clark told a dozen reporters "off the record" that Kerry had a bimbo eruption problem. Earlier, Lehane was fired by the Kerry campaign, so may hold a grudge. Lehane also worked for Bill Clinton.

I'm sure there are a lot of Democrats who think the whole story is just a Republican dirty trick. I think the Republicans would have preferred to wait until Kerry actually had the nomination, however. Right now the only ones who might benefit from the story are other Democrats who want the nomination. (Or a certain former president who doesn't want his wife running against an incumbent Democrat president in 2008.)

J - exactly - all the Dems/liberals I know believe this was put out by the GOP despite the well known role Lehane had in it.

All the comments about Kerry "persuing" and being a "sleazebag," combined with the explicit denials of any sex, make it sound like Kerry chased a younger woman to the point of making a fool of himself but failed to catch her.

This is the worst of all possible worlds. Kerry will get all the disgust and resentment Clinton got, with none of the sneaking envy and admiration that counterbalanced it.