Reno Gazette-Journal Interview

Reno Gazette-Journal Reporter Beryl Chong interviewed Andre Heinz when he visited Reno on Saturday. He was at the University of Nevada, Reno, to get young people to vote, and he visited the Ormat geothermal plant on Mount Rose Highway later in the afternoon.

Heinz, 34, is the stepson of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and a son of Teresa Heinz Kerry and the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz III, who was a Republican from Pennsylvania when he died in a plane crash in 1991.

Andre Heinz graduated with a master’s degree in environmental studies from the Yale University School of Forestry. He works for The Natural Step, which advises bodies such as the European Union, the United Nations and corporations.

Heinz, who has no plans to run for office, is taking time off to campaign for Kerry.

Q: You were raised a Republican, your late father, John Heinz III, was a Republican senator. Why are you stumping for a Democrat?

A: “For two reasons, one, first is the Republican Party that I knew growing up is nowhere to be found in politics today. It’s become divisive politics, and they’ve abandoned the core principles and values of the Republican Party. They’ve become quite liberal if you will. They have huge deficits, huge debt, nation building and the like. They’ve been doing the things they’ve criticized others of doing.

“The second is, I believe in the policies of John Kerry as much I do the man. I have the advantage of knowing him, but if he didn’t have the policies to back it up, it wouldn’t sound good enough. His policies have a chance, they are realistic and in line with the aspirations of the vast majority of the country.”

Q: If John Kerry weren’t your stepfather would you be in this position?

A: “I’d be campaigning, I’d be fighting, absolutely. I think it’s imperative that we do everything we can to get John Kerry in as president and George Bush out as president.”

Q: How do you feel about the way your mother has been portrayed sometimes negatively by the media?

A: “It annoys me, two reasons.

“Primarily it annoys me because it does a disservice to women around this country who are smart, outspoken, passionate and who not only take care of their families but also partner communities as my mom does. It really does a disservice to that. It seems to suggest that there’s some sort of undefined role for women. …

“It doesn’t bother me personally because I know her for who she is, she’s my mom. There’s not a lot of people who know her better, so you know, sticks and stones right? But it’s too bad about that.

“It’s not that tough because I know they’re wrong. I’m not embarrassed by my mom at all. She is who she is. She doesn’t change for people like that, she’s great. I think she’s been real refreshing for the campaign. Everywhere I go I have people coming up to me to say how much they love my mom, that sticks with me.”

Q: What was it like growing up the son of a very prominent Republican senator?

A: “We’re a very private family actually. This campaign is an exception.

“We grew up in a very private household and while I knew my dad was a very popular senator in Pennsylvania, and I knew he was a guy who was committed to the truth and working with other people regardless of (the) party you’re a part of…”

Q: Are the pressures different when you are a member of such a prominent family?

A: “I wouldn’t say they have to be different. What my folks stressed was not (that) you have to be something because dad’s a senator or because we’re Heinzes or whatever. It’s the opposite. You have to do the right thing you, have to be conscientious because that’s what you have to do, that’s a moral obligation. That informs our actions, not labels.”

Q: Why is the environment so important to you personally?

A: “From a personal sort of level, I see an intrinsic value in nature. But also … I recognize we can’t have a prosperous society without the basis upon which it rests, which is a healthy environment. We really can’t have one or the other. For myself, for those people who enjoy the environment who are coming after us, and for the sake of the environment I know we have to do everything we can to get beyond the myth that it costs too much to take care of the planet.”

Q: You are neither a Republican nor a Democrat?

A:“I am a ‘declined to state.’ It started in 1994 with Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America.” The reason I’m haven’t chosen a Democrat or something else is because I actually don’t quite follow the logic anymore where the citizen, the voter, has to identify with the party, and stick with that versus the voter voting for the party.”

Q: Your mother asked voters not to vote for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., after your father died and left the seat open. Why?

A: “I don’t think she’s too fond of Rick Santorum. I do remember that when he was running for Senate after my dad died, he kept talking about how he was a John Heinz Republican, which is nothing further from the truth. I think Mom was pretty upset about that. Also, you listen to some of the things he says, it’s pretty outrageous, he seems to be of this politics of hate. I don’t like that.”

Q: What was the impact of your father dying when you were so young?

A: “I was 21. And the impact, I don’t really know how to put it into words … . Understandably, it was really tough. I’ll never get to hear whether he’s proud of me, not disappointed. I’ll never get to know what he thinks. I’ll never get to seek his advice.

“I guess the fact that it’s not disabling me is a sign of how good a father he was because at the end of the day, life’s about choice and the choices you make… You know he tried to equip us with the respect and the mindset for looking for the truth and looking for people’s opinions to be prepared to deal with that.”

Q: How has John Kerry’s running for president changed your life?

A: “I’m on a campaign trail where I’ve never been before. It’s tiring, it’s worthwhile. It’s amazing that my mom, who is 66, puts me to shame with how many miles she puts in, and I think it’s absolutely worth fighting for.”

Q: What do you think of the Swift Boat Veterans ads against your stepdad?

A: “They’re thoroughly debunked. I knew that before. But it’s too bad that the press covered the story so much because that created a story rather than someone actually doing their homework and finding out that these guys are as nutty as a $3 bill.

“It’s just amazing that after 35 years … it just happens to come out just prior to election. I think it’s bad also because it’s thrown more fire to this confusion that too many of our citizens suffer when it comes to (discerning) fact from fiction. It doesn’t hold people to a higher challenge of saying, ‘Look, you know the test of whether or not what we’re saying is true (and) is our encouraging you to go out and find facts. Find the truth out yourself and here’s how we contest you can do so.’ ”

Q: Why come to Washoe County, which has voted Republican in recent presidential elections?

A: “There’s a lot of people who are Republicans, Democrats, who are feeling the middle-class pinch, who aren’t buying the story of that just having a $300 tax cut is enough.

“That tax cut doesn’t go anywhere when it’s going to pay for 35 percent tuition increases, 30 percent health care increases. It’s not going to a portfolio … .

“In this county, we’re appealing to the good graces and common sense of the majority of Americans.

“There’s nothing Republican about a $422 billion budget deficit, $4.4 trillion debt, nation building, ruining our environment and listening to the needs of only the special interests.”

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