Kerry backgrounder

Very good , not just about Kerry but about the "two Americas" as well:

Outside the house is a space where a fire hydrant used to be. In 1997, after his wife, Teresa, racked up huge parking fines for blocking the hydrant, they had it moved, prompting citywide fury.

"You're talking about two of the most sensitive issues in the city," says Susan Orlean, a New Yorker writer who lives in Boston. "Parking and anything to do with the fire department, which is revered only second to the church. It could only have been worse if she'd asked a priest to bless it."

"The whole incident resonated as a sense of their entitlement and arrogance," says Jon Keller, political analyst for the local television station, WB56. "He's the least liked political figure in the state. Nobody around here has ever warmed up to him."