Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Inside the glamour

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U.S. Sen. John Kerry’s vacation in Ketchum the past week was illuminating.

Kerry just wrapped up the Democratic primary season, and as the party’s certain presidential nominee, he is now protected by the Secret Service.

People in the Wood River Valley had a front row seat to watch what happens to someone on a quest to become the single most powerful person in the world. Common wisdom holds that anyone with the desire to become president of the United States in this modern age must be at least a power-hungry egocentric narcissist.

That’s not what residents and visitors here saw in John Kerry.

Instead, they saw a quiet man who has willingly given up his personal peace and quiet in a quest to serve them. They saw a man who clearly loves the things they love—boarding, snowshoeing, skiing, mountain climbing and being outdoors. They saw a man familiar to them from his previous visits, a man who carries his own gear and likes hockey. But this time, it was different.

The U.S. Secret Service agent who briefed the Ketchum City Council about a possible Kerry visit was wrong when he said that if Kerry ever came here, he would hole up in his home for rest and relaxation, and rarely appear.

Kerry had other plans. He dined out at local restaurants, spent some time in a local watering hole, went to church on Sunday, and indulged in five days of nonstop boarding, skiing and snowshoeing. He nearly wore out the press. The schedule was probably the same one that Kerry had kept during other visits. Then, no one noticed. This time, no one could help but notice.

Handfuls of onlookers gathered to greet him and photograph him wherever he went. He was upbeat and gracious, shaking hands with shy little kids and mugging for the camera with Junior Olympians

A contingent of a dozen or so reporters, producers and photographers from every major news organization trailed his every move and recorded his every word. The number will surely grow.

Kerry went nowhere alone. He could go nowhere unrecognized. Kerry could find peace and quiet only inside the walls of his home, even though he skillfully ditched reporters and carved out a few private turns on Baldy on Saturday.

Kerry’s visit was a lesson in the price candidates and presidents pay for public service in a wired and dangerous world.

If Kerry becomes president, he will be protected by the Secret Service for the rest of his life. He will never again carve a turn alone or travel with only his family.

A campaign for president looks glamorous and exciting from the outside. But the glamour is wrapped around a set of personal sacrifices few people would be willing to make. Those who make these sacrifices on America’s behalf deserve our gratitude and respect.

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