Opponent savors a fine wine moment
Twelve years have passed since Senator Edward M. Kennedy debated one of his political challengers. Back then, he squared off against a candidate named Mitt Romney. A million people watched the Faneuil Hall classic.
Yesterday, Kennedy rolled up to a squat building in a suburban office park in Newton, home to NECN studios. This time, his opponent was Kenneth G. Chase, the co-owner of a chain of foreign language schools.
About 30 Kennedy supporters held signs outside the studio, but the public was not allowed inside.
The candidates were not allowed to ask each other questions; the Kennedy campaign vetoed that idea, according to NECN.
They also got advance warning of the subjects that would come up: two foreign policy subjects (the Iraq war and the war on terror, with North Korea added on Sunday) and two domestic policy subjects (healthcare and education).
But Chase said that, in addition to immigration, he managed to bring up another subject that stumped the veteran senator.
During the break, Chase said, he mentioned his favorite wine, Sauternes, a sweet, white dessert wine from Bordeaux.
He told a reporter later that he tripped up Kennedy, the scion of one of the country's most famous political families, on the subject of this fine French wine.
``Chet was aware of the Sauternes," Chase said in an interview afterward , referring to the moderator, Chet Curtis. ``I don't think Ted Kennedy was aware of the Sauternes."
The debate lasted only a half hour. When it ended, the Kennedy supporters arranged themselves in a tight scrum.
As Kennedy left the building, one of his aides whispered: ``Here he comes! Everybody cheer, ready?"
They obliged as the 74-year-old senator, wearing a navy suit, striped blue shirt and anchor cuff-links, ambled out, shaking hands with a few labor union members outside the studio. They held their signs behind the senator while he submitted to a short, prearranged interview on North Korea.
(At one point Kennedy quoted his brother, John F. Kennedy: ``Never negotiate out of fear, but never fear to negotiate.")
After the interview ended, Kennedy took no further questions from reporters. He clambered into his navy blue Suburban. Along with his wife, Victoria, her parents, and several aides, he and his entourage departed.
Then the handful of cameras finally turned their attention to Chase, who had exited by a side door and waited his turn for press interviews.
Chase -- tall, wearing rimless glasses, a black suit, and a red tie, short hair looking almost glued to his head -- said it went well.
The single member of his posse -- Robert Cahaly, a short, bespectacled, bow-tie-wearing political consultant who spoke with a thick Georgia accent -- agreed.
The Republican contender said he thought he scored points when he (despite the rules) brought up immigration, a topic he feels so passionately about that he traveled to the Mexican border in Arizona to stand guard with the Minutemen a couple of weeks ago.
``I'm about my ideas," he said. ``I'm not about myself."
He stayed and answered questions until there were no more. Then he headed back to his gray van and drove away. 