July 8th Cover of the NY TIMES

Two photos are displayed on the cover of today's  NY Times newsprint.

 

The first photo catches your eye not just because of its size but also because of Theresa Heinz Kerry's bright orange suit jacket.  From left to right: Elizabeth Edwards, Edwards' 6 year old daughter - Emma Claire, John Edwards his hand resting atop his son - Jack's - head, John Kerry, Theresa Heinz Kerry and Andre Heinz, Kerry's stepson.  All are looking presidential and accomplished.  They're formally dressed.  All have suit jackets.  But it's not a picture of Kerry or Edwards but of Theresa.  

Jack is sucking his thumb and Theresa is leaning across the front of the picture, her finger taps Jack's hand right by his thumb.  She's obviously trying to get Jack to stop sucking his thumb.  Edwards hand rests protectively on his son's head and there's something odd about the smile on Elizabeth Edwards' face.  I don't believe the picture is a flattering one.  Of all the pictures the NY TIMES could choose to illustrate this new alliance - why this one?  Did they think it highlighted some sort of schism between Kerry and Edwards? What is the story they're trying to sell here?  

Juxtapose this one with the smaller picture just below the crease.  Bush is surrounded by children.  His coat is off and his serving up koolaid.  He looks comfortable, relaxed.  A man comfortable with kids.  He looks like a big kid himself in some respects, accepting them as they are.

Taken together, I'm not comfortable with the comparison being made.  Has anyone else had a chance to look at the cover of today's NY Times?  Am I the only one who is having this reaction?  

(Note: The piece was by Jodi Wilgoren.)

•  don't know

  but NPR had a complaining piece that whined that Theresa was being obnoxious by not letting the kid suck his thumb when his parents were right there.  I mean, for real?

  by seamus on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 03:51:33 PM PDT

  •  And that's the most...

    ...compelling thing we have to talk about today?

    You wouldn't happen to remember what show that was on, do you Seamus?  

    by Titian on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 03:57:47 PM PDT

    •  not 100% sure

      but I think it was All THings Considered.  One of those short "essays" they do at the end of each half hour.

      by seamus on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:02:20 PM PDT

•  You mean this one?

  

  by Maryscott OConnor on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 03:52:25 PM PDT

  •  Exactly.

    Thanks Maryscott.  One of these days I'll key into the coolness which is posting pics.  

    Taken together, what message do you see these two pictures sending?

    by Titian on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 03:55:41 PM PDT

    •  I'm not as tuned into

      the sort of messages you are, I don't think.

      Me, I see a BIG picture of Kerry and Edwards and their adorable families...

      and a leeetle picture of Georgw W. Bush cavorting with his peer group.

      by Maryscott OConnor on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:00:13 PM PDT

    •  wow. Clearly a dig.

      Perhaps they were pissed at the way Kerry/Edwards is orchestrating press coverage and decided to find the worst shot imaginable. I watched the speech live and don't recall this nanomoment at all. What is the problem with NYT?

      Teresa does, of course, need to get a grip and stop correcting other people's kids, especially in front of the world. It's not flattering.

      by lapis on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:03:10 PM PDT

  •  Well BFD! Those Kids Were

    heartmeltingly adorable and I'm not a kid lover.

    What Theresa was OBVIOUSLY trying to do was get the little guy to put his hand down so his face would show in the picture.  No big evil there.

    Jeez they didn't catch when the little girl had her finger up her nose. It was just freaking great.

    Some people need to get lives.  Stupid. Stupid Stupid.

    by mattman on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:03:11 PM PDT

  •  that's it

    i'm just not seeing what titian did here.  granted i'm a hardcore librul, but i saw some absolutely adorable kids, and in this pic one of them is sucking his thumb, so his aunt theresa is telling him to stop it. looks like family to me.  granted, a wingnut might find something to jump on, but they're called wingnuts for a reason.

    true, the pic of edwards exiting the plane where jack has a bundle of red white & blue balloons would have been better, because what kind of monster could say no to a little tyke with balloons?

    the bush pic is below the fold, so as that implies, i saw it later. my first thought there was huh. bush is trying to get him some photo ops with cute kids too. loser.  again, that could be because i'm biased.

    also, the pic on the right of the soldiers in the pickup is hardcore.  don't know if you can make it out here, but those red spots aren't a ink malfunction - that's blood my friends, real, fresh, red american blood.  that outweighs the chimp helping at a lemonade stand in my book (although a lemonade stand wouldn't be a bad place for him, as long as you're not expecting it to break even).

    we're rolling back the republican crime wave

    by zeke L on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 06:14:19 PM PDT

•  Link

  Here's a link to the pic.

  I think you're paranoid.

  by hamletta on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 03:58:23 PM PDT

•  It's takes a village

  She's just warming to her new role as Auntie Teresa.

  by crayons on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:03:37 PM PDT

  •  oops

    "It" not "It's"

    by crayons on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:06:45 PM PDT

•  Actually, the group looks kind of intimate

  I guess you could say Teresa is being a bit presumptuous to assume his parents don't want him to suck his thumb. But instead of someone stepping over a line, I see a woman with strong maternal instincts and the daughter of a doctor who is always concerned about the welfare of her family and friends. The Edwards don't seem perturb. Actually, I see a level of comfort that the gesture by Teresa underscores.

  by John Campanelli on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:05:19 PM PDT

  •  Eyes

    I actually just happened to look at the photo in the (read hardcopy) edition a few minutes before reading this diary. I thought it was actually quite a sweet photo. I thought about why Teresa was telling the boy not to suck his thumb, but I think his parents just hadn't noticed - their eyes are looking forward.

    by DavidNYC on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:07:53 PM PDT

  •  Yes, taken alone...

    ...the top photo is all of those things.  It's the juxtaposition I'm looking at.  The two photos on the cover, taken as a whole.  Who comes off better?  I'm not sure.  I think Kerry's big smile down at Jack saves the day.  But of all the pictures that could have been used to show "New Team Blends messages for a United Vision", why this one?  

    The photo of Kerry and Edwards on p. A15 is more natural cover shot and ties in tighter with the message.  However, the Times chose to go with a picture showing Theresa coaxing Jack remove his thumb.  She's not smiling and she comes off as critical.  Juxtapose this with the Bush shot.  The Times could have chosen any number of stumping shots of Bush, but they chose a positive one of Bush with his jacket off, casual downhome Bush pouring out koolaid for the kids.  And then it set the two photos on the cover.  

    I really can't speak to the sort of thought that goes into choosing photos for a particular news story.  But these two, shown together on the cover are a comparison which favours the casual, koolaid pouring Bush in my opinion.

    It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things (despite the NPR pundit's piece) but I found it interesting.  

    by Titian on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 06:06:28 PM PDT

•  I had the same reaction as the OP

  Also didn't care much for Tiernan's "Boy, those Democrats sure are rich, aren't they" article a few pages in.

  by DelRPCV on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:05:38 PM PDT

•  if you see the photos

  inside, they are very flattering, John Kerry cavorting with little Jack, it's sweet and memorable and reminiscent of Camelot...which I don't remember because I was six years shy of being born...

  by PBJ Diddy on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:16:12 PM PDT

  •  i'm clearly brain damaged...

    that was the NY Daily news inside...never mind...f*%$ing NYTimes...

    by PBJ Diddy on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:18:00 PM PDT

•  Caption

  "Senators John Edwards and John Kerry gathered their families for a portrait yesterday.  Mrs. Heinz Kerry offered some direction to Jack Edwards."

  by Michael D on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:16:25 PM PDT

•  koolaid kids

  Dishing out the koolaid for the next generation.  Bet he's talking to them about the benefits of home-schooling.

  by dash on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:23:04 PM PDT

  •  Kool Aid? How Jonestown

    by John Campanelli on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:40:07 PM PDT

    •  was thinking of this definition from dkosopedia

      Kool-Aid, Drinking the
          Originally from the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe, refering to Kool-Aid at parties being spiked with LSD, so that one had to drink the Kool-Aid to be "tuned in". Also connected in people's minds to Jim Jones' followers' use of Flavor-Aid containing cyanide to kill themselves. Now used in political circles to refer to people who have bought into a candidacy or a cause wholeheartedly.

      by dash on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 05:00:28 PM PDT

•  You're not the only one, Titian

  I was irked by the piece by Jodi Wilgoren. It was mostly positive, but she couldn't help putting in a snide remark about Kerry opening his arms to Jack and Jack running to his father instead. There are so many other moments she could have mentioned -- Kerry carrying Jack and Jack giggling, Kerry chasing Jack and Emma Claire and the kids loving it, etc. Kerry is good with kids, but she makes him sound like a chump.

  Taken together with the picture, they clearly have an agenda. I can't stand this woman's articles. She's a Cheney-ing hack.

  by missanthropy on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:23:58 PM PDT

•  what?

  Since when is sucking your thumb a Republican value? Come on. All kid's have to give that one up eventually should they wish to be accepted in polite society and rise in their careers. Theresa just couldn't help herself. Not to be sexist, but that's a motherly/grandmotherly instinct in action. The Family Values group should approve.

  by zane on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 04:41:38 PM PDT

•  Overreaction...

  by Asak on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 05:12:14 PM PDT

•  It's the next vice-president, Charlie Brown

  I kept thinking that Jack Edwards needed a security blanket ...

  by Jon Meltzer on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 07:03:53 PM PDT

•  Missed the vote...

  ...against war profiteers. As long as our kids don't fight it's okay to vote yours to war. I wouldn't change a thing...

  And by the way, our hair is nicer! Take that! never mind about war profiteering, it's feel good time, just take your money and  wash your bloody hands at taxpayer expense.

  Play by their rules and we get to be quarterback next! Two yes votes for the war!

  by Mr Murder on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 07:42:56 PM PDT

•  it's a 4 col photo vs a 2 col photo

  and as noted above, the 4 col one is above the fold and the 2 col below...I say K/E is the winner here...

  Besides being the big news event of the day (which is the main reason it gets that position), it is a good photo...there's realism and intimacy in that photo, which being a photo op would not necessarily have been an easy thing to capture...

  that picture grabbed my attention to pick up the nyt this morning (still haven't read it yet! but i did look at the pic and read the caption)...i imagine had the same effect on others...

  it's an impressive group all around, and that jack edwards may just be the secret weapon ;)

  by southc on Thu Jul 08, 2004 at 09:05:16 PM PDT