The Affair that wasn't



Alexandra Polier, (see above) the woman who was accused of having an affair with Democratic Presidential Nominee-to-be John Kerry writes her story in the latest New York magazine: "I met John Kerry for the first time in January 2001, in Davos, Switzerland." She says she introduced herself, "and he looked pleased to hear a familiar accent." Kerry asked "What are you doing here?" and ordered her "a drink. We moved swiftly through American foreign policy to his political ambitions." Polier, "with a confidence that probably seemed very forward": "I think you're going to be the next president of the United States." He asked if she "had any desire to work on a political campaign, so I ran through my resume." He "seemed impressed, and after sharing Davos gossip for fifteen minutes, he shook my hand and said": "Get in touch with my office. Maybe there's something you can do for the campaign."

More Polier: "I called the senator's office the week I got back and was invited to a fund-raiser in New York later that month. His assistant assured me that the $2,000 ticket would be comped. When Kerry eventually arrived, everything seemed glamorous. At first I was afraid that he wouldn't recognize me. 'Alexandra, so glad you could make it,' he said when he reached me. Beckoning to a handsome aide who'd walked in with him, he introduced me to his finance director, Peter Maroney. We were the youngest people in the room by fifteen years, and after discovering the coincidence of growing up in the same hometown, we hit it off. I found him charming, smart, and charismatic -- a cuter version of his boss."

More Polier: "As the last guests were heading out, Kerry came back and suggested we all go to dinner at Churrascaria Plataforma, a Brazilian restaurant nearby. I was surprised to be invited, and flattered when I was seated between Peter and the senator. I hoped it was my wit and enthusiasm, not my blonde hair and long legs, that got me a seat at the table. --Her picture tells me it was at least a little bit of both (looks couldn't have hurt)

Yet more Polier: "I felt like a serious player. Four mojitos later, the conversation was animated. Plans for a Kerry presidency were punctuated by platters of skirt steak and roasted salmon. The senator was flirtatious and funny. I felt I held my own with the other dinner guests, and Kerry announced to them that he hoped I would be coming onboard the campaign soon. And after dinner, as Peter put me into a cab, I knew I would be hearing from the senator's finance director again. A phone friendship with Peter followed, and we started dating that spring. I contemplated moving to Washington and spoke a few times on the phone with Kerry, who indulged me by offering advice about my career. The presidential race was still three years away, and by then I'd been accepted at Columbia. Peter was a little nervous about dating a fledgling reporter, but our relationship was fun." She adds: "Eventually the relationship fizzled out, but we remained friends, talking often. When I left the States last fall, we stayed in touch via e-mail, and Peter would send me links to articles mentioning his successes." According to Polier, one email she received read: "Al, there's a rumor going around the office that you slept with my boss."

Still more Polier: "Peter recommended I talk with Kerry's spokeswoman, Stephanie Cutter. Several hours later, the two of them called me back, telling me they also had a lawyer in the room. Cutter sounded young and hard, and I imagined her like Lara Flynn Boyle on The Practice. She peppered me with questions. When had I first met the senator? 'Davos.' Were there any pictures of us together? 'No,' I said. 'Think back, Alex, think hard,' she said, both stern and unsympathetic. I thought, Wait a minute, I'm the victim here. 'Have you ever been alone with the senator?' she continued. 'No.' 'Are you sure?' she drilled. 'Yes. I'm sure,' I said, trying to joke a bit. 'I think I would remember!' No response. Had I spoken with anyone in the press? 'No.' 'Okay,' she said, pausing, sounding slightly relieved."

"I began by calling political reporters and strategists, who told me that as early as the New Hampshire primary, on January 27, two weeks before the story appeared on Drudge, there had been rumors swirling that Kerry had an intern problem. ... I had assumed that the story, like much of the initial reporting, was part of a Republican dirty-tricks campaign to break Kerry's momentum. ... As I began to trace the rumor, I learned that the vaguer it was, the easier it was to spread. Without a specific intern's name attached, the story was initially impossible to disprove. ... As I continued to dig, it occurred to me that Bush wasn't the only one with a motive. Clark, Dean, and Edwards all stood to gain if Kerry imploded." Says a reporter who covered the Clark camp: "This story played into so many agendas, everyone wanted it to be true."

More Polier, on then-Clark strategist Chris Lehane: "I wondered if Lehane had been the source, especially since he had switched horses mid-race. ... Joe Trippi, Howard Dean's former campaign manager, told me he'd also heard Lehane had been shopping the rumor -- presumably on Clark's behalf. Drudge claimed Clark himself had told reporters on his campaign bus that Kerry was going to 'implode' over a scandal, but when I called Wesley Clark Jr., a screenwriter in L.A., who had helped out on his father's campaign, he told me Drudge had ignored the context of his father's quote. 'He was reacting to the latest issue of The National Enquirer, which had just run a front-page story about Kerry and possible scandals, when he said that.'"

More Polier, on calling Lehane herself: "I asked him where he'd first heard the rumors about Kerry and me. He blamed political reporters. I asked him if he had used the rumors to try to help Clark. He denied it. 'There are just so many media outlets out there now, Alex, that these kind of baseless rumors can easily get turned into stories,' he said smoothly, and then the phone went dead. I called him right back, but he didn't answer. I called again less than an hour later, and this time his outgoing message had been changed to, 'Hi, you've reached Chris. I'm traveling and won't be able to retrieve my voice mail.' I wondered how he was able to run a PR company without retrieving voice mail. Our conversation was unsettling, but it was hardly conclusive." According to Polier, Matt Drudge told her: "In retrospect, I should have had a sentence saying, 'There is no evidence to tie Alex to John Kerry.' I should have put that." He added: "If Clark had not gone out there and said, 'Kerry is going to bomb,' I never, ever, would have gone anywhere near this'"

I'm sorry, but as much as I don't believe Lehane, he is still more believable than Drudge. Clark had nothing to do with this, other than hiring the scumbag Lehane and maybe listening to his bad advice.