BOSTON -- The highlight of the Pennsylvania delegation's weekend in Boston was a welcoming fete under the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House; its star attraction was the state's chief convention luminary, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

	John Beale, Post-Gazette
	Former Pittsburgh Mayor Sophie Masloff, left, and Teresa Heinz Kerry, right, greet one another as members of the band play on during a reception yesterday for Pennsylvania's delegates at the Massachusetts State House in Boston.

Speaking from a staircase just off the capitol rotunda, Heinz Kerry told the crowd that her time was limited because she had to head off to practice the speech she will give from the convention podium tomorrow evening. While she assured them that she had written the speech herself, the outspoken Heinz Kerry said she wasn't used to reading from a TelePrompter.

"As you know, I'm generally unscripted," she said, eliciting knowing chuckles from the crowd.

A few moments later, she offered a perfect example.

As she greeted delegates and well-wishers on her way out of the capitol building, she engaged in a running discussion with Colin McNickle, editorial page editor of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, who repeatedly pressed her on what she had meant during her remarks when she decried "some of the creeping unPennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics."

Heinz Kerry repeatedly insisted that McNickle had mischaracterized her remarks in his questions. After walking away momentarily, she returned to the writer and said, "You're from the Tribune-Review -- understandable. You said something I didn't say. Now shove it."

Asked about the exchange later, McNickle said, "Mrs. Heinz Kerry has a perfect right to say whatever she wants."

	John Beale, Post-Gazette
	Gov. Ed Rendell escorts Teresa Heinz Kerry to a reception for Pennsylvania delegates at the Massachusetts State House.

In keeping with its attitude toward most Democrats, the Tribune-Review's editorial page have been generally critical of the Kerry campaign. The newpaper's publisher, Richard Mellon Scaife, is a longtime contributor to conservative causes, among them, the Capitol Research Center, a right-wing think tank that has been critical of some of the philanthropic activity of the Heinz family charities guided by Heinz Kerry.

"I think my wife speaks her mind appropriately," Kerry told reporters today when asked about the exchange between his wife and McNickle.

Asked about the response on CNN's "American Morning," Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said today, "A lot of Americans are going to say, 'Good for you, you go, girl,' and that's certainly how I feel about it."

A spokeswoman for Heinz Kerry later said, "This was sheer frustration aimed at a right-wing rag that has consistently and purposely misrepresented the facts in reporting on Mrs. Kerry and her family."

Vice President Dick Cheney recently came under criticism for using a four-letter obscenity in an exchange with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on the Senate floor. He later was unapologetic about the remark, saying: "I felt better after I said it."

Rendell said he didn't see anything wrong with what Heinz Kerry said.

"It was mild, polite and appropriate compared to Dick Cheney," Rendell said.

Chris Heinz spoke to the Pennsylvania delegates at their morning meeting and said his chief focus was preparing his introduction of his mother, Heinz Kerry, tomorrow evening. Asked about his mother's remarks yesterday, her son observed, "Cheney's said worse."

Rendell observed, "Would I have told a reporter to shove it? I probably don't have that much guts."

Reporters who have covered Rendell over the years might not recognize that self-assessment. The governor may not have used the precise words, but he is seldom reticent in challenging stories and reporters he disagrees with.

Rep. Don Sherwood, a Pennsylvania congressman who offered rebuttals to the Democratic convention on behalf of the Bush-Cheney campaign, said Heinz Kerry can get carried away.

"We'd love to have her spend a lot more campaign time in Pennsylvania," Sherwood said. "I just think the more we see of Teresa, the better it'll be for the Bush campaign."

As the Pennsylvania delegates filed into the venerable capitol building, they met reminders of distant and recent history. Bowing to the omnipresent concern about a possible terrorist attack, they were subjected to the strict security checks met at almost every turn in convention environs. The beeps of the magnetometers were accompanied by the strains by a fife and drum trio in authentic revolutionary garb.

If Teresa Heinz Kerry glances to her right when she speaks from the convention podium tomorrow night, she won't have any trouble spotting some of the same Pennsylvanians who cheered her last night. During convention business, the Pennsylvania delegates will be assembled in one of the prime locations in the front of the hall, just below one of the two speakers' stands. Their rows of lightly padded folding chairs are just behind those of Sen. John Edwards' North Carolina delegation and beside those of the New Mexico contingent.

Slightly more than half of Pennsylvania 207 delegates were elected in the April primary. The balance include members of Congress and party officials and 66 appointed spots determined by Democratic leaders, including Gov. Ed Rendell; state Rep. T.J. Rooney, the state chairman, and the Kerry campaign.

Rooney describes the delegation as "perhaps the most diverse we've ever had."

"We have 28 African-Americans, seven Latinos, five Asian-Americans, and five members of the gay and lesbian community."

The group is less diverse chronologically, however, with the vast majority 40 or older.

The delegation's day begins early, although no one is taking attendance. Today's breakfast session featured remarks from Rendell and Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is scheduled to speak tomorrow and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean will talk to the group later in the week.

Helping cultivate the sunny mood that Democrats are seeking this week, Rendell urged the Pennsylvania contingent to keep a civil tone throughout the week, avoiding the temptation to trash the president.

"Sen. Kerry has asked all of us to focus on the positive this week," Rendell said. "He doesn't want anyone demonizing the president this week.

Biden has a different take on the same theme. He told the crowd that it was important for the party, when criticizing the administration, to avoid sounding as though they were "rooting for failure."

"People understand that when Bush fails, they fail," Biden said.

But for Biden, as for most Democrats here, there are limits to civility. He didn't leave the stage without denouncing the "incredible arrogance," of the Bush administration in its approach to Iraq and the Middle East.

Among local Democrats heading to Boston are Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, county Controller Mark Flaherty, Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, former Mayor Sophie Masloff, Recorder of Deeds Eileen Wager, Register of Wills Valerie Roberts and Jury Commissioner Jean Milko.

Labor leaders include William George, president of the state AFL-CIO; AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Rick Bloomingdale; United Steelworkers Vice President Leon Lynch; Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers President Al Fondy; and Jack Shea, president of the Allegheny County Labor Council.