John Beale, Post-Gazette Teresa Heinz Kerry listens to a question from Tribune-Review editorial page editor Colin McNickle during a spirited exchange Sunday at the Massachustetts State House in Boston. Click photo for larger image.

BOSTON -- One of the most important goals of Democratic convention speakers this week is to convey the soft and caring side of their presidential candidate into the living rooms of America, sketching a portrait of Sen. John F. Kerry through intimate stories of his roles as brother-in-arms in Vietnam, as father devoted to his daughters and three stepsons, and as loving husband to his lively wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

Of these, Heinz Kerry has captured the bulk of the news coverage -- she is usually characterized as being perhaps a little too lively, as when she told a newspaper editor on Sunday to "shove it" -- but the rest of the youthful Kerry-Heinz clan also has been highly visible in the 2004 race. And their presence seems a particular asset for a candidate viewed by many voters as emotionally remote and unapproachable.

All of the Heinz and Kerry children have been tromping the campaign trail for months, lending a multigenerational image to the Kerry candidacy and helping to loosen up the Massachusetts senator with funny anecdotes and stories of family life.

The bubbly Emma Claire and Jack Edwards, the 6- and 4-year-old children of running mate John Edwards, added further family buoyancy to the Democratic ticket. The compelling images showing Kerry's horsing around with the Edwards children produced comparisons to the young family of former President John F. Kennedy.

Despite the occasional flaps over her frankness, Teresa Heinz Kerry also has helped Kerry's standing among Democrats, as she crisscrossed the country giving speeches and attending teas while trying to dispel the notion that her husband is aloof or reserved.

In a recent CNN profile of Kerry, Heinz Kerry pointed to the isolation he faced as a child when he was sent to boarding school in Switzerland as one reason it sometimes seems hard for him to connect with his audiences, and she talked about how she has worked to open him up during their 9 years of marriage.

Christopher Heinz, who will introduce his mother tonight at the convention, often tells voters how Kerry won "my respect, my friendship and then my love." Campaigning before a Pittsburgh audience last week, Heinz noted that, "when the cameras weren't on and there wasn't much upside to being friendly with his snotty stepson, he still did it and I hope you can think about that when you think about who you vote for on Nov. 2."

	John Beale, Post-Gazette Vanessa Kerry, left, and her sister, Alexandra Kerry, center, talk with Claire Shipman of ABC during a tour Sunday of the FleetCenter in Boston. Click photo for larger image.

Kerry's daughters, Vanessa and Alexandra Kerry, who will speak at the convention Thursday night, have taken time off from medical and film school to campaign for their father and are widely credited with helping Kerry warm up on the stump.

"Whenever a family member is involved -- even if we consider ourselves policy intelligent -- the main competitive advantage that we can bring is humanizing the candidate and putting them in perspective for [people] all over the country," said Christopher Heinz. "And that's what we are going to try to do."

A Pittsburgh voter who watched Heinz campaign in Pittsburgh last week said it seems to be working.

"He made me feel that Kerry was a good man," said Mary Ann Kelly, a retired nurse who lives in Greenfield. "It was the human stuff and the stepdad stuff...that stuck in my mind."

The campaign of President Bush also has played the family card in recent weeks, embracing the advantages of putting the first daughters out on the campaign trail.

Jenna and Barbara Bush recently announced they would campaign for their father and postpone their post-college plans -- for Jenna, a teaching job at a charter school; for Barbara, working with children who have AIDS in Eastern Europe and Africa.

The twins have been campaigning in the Midwest mostly at closed press events, and last week participated in an online chat on Bush-Cheney Web site. Asked to describe their father in one sentence, they gushed.

"Our dad has given us an amazing life full of love and support and he lives his life respecting every individual he meets. Plus, he always keeps us and our Mom laughing. Oops! That's two sentences ... sorry!," they wrote.

Of course, spotlighting families also has its downside for candidates, as illustrated by the flap this week over a spirited exchange between Teresa Heinz Kerry and Colin McNickle, editorial page editor of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, which was played numerous times on cable television yesterday.

McNickle pressed Heinz Kerry on what she had meant when she criticized "some of the creeping un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics" during remarks to the Pennsylvania delegation on Sunday.

She accused McNickle of misconstruing her words, said she had never used the term "un-American," and told him to "shove it" after confirming that he worked for the conservative Tribune-Review.

Kerry made no apologies as he campaigned yesterday. "I think my wife speaks her mind appropriately," he told reporters.

A Kerry spokeswoman said the comments were a reflection of "sheer frustration aimed at a right-wing publication that has consistently and purposely misrepresented the facts in reporting on Teresa Heinz Kerry and her family."

On the Tribune-Review Web site, Editor Frank L. Craig was quoted as saying, "Colin McNickle did just what any good reporter does -- he asked questions. The tape of her speech shows she used the word 'un-American,' even though she denied it. It was a legitimate question for McNickle to ask. It is unfortunate that she ruined what was an otherwise good message by resorting to exactly the type of tactics she was criticizing."

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Correction/Clarification: (Published July 29, 2004) In the July 27, 2004 version of this story the number of years Kerry has been married to Teresa Heinz Kerry was misstated. The couple have been married for 9 years.