NationStates Jolt Archive

Bush relatives use website to show support for Kerry
6 second cousins protest policies
By Sandeep Kaushik, Globe Correspondent | October 20, 2004

SEATTLE -- Six blood relatives of President Bush who support John F. Kerry's bid for the presidency have launched a website to publicize their sharp disagreements with Bush's policies.

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The site, www.bushrelativesforkerry.com, consists of personal statements from a group of decidedly liberal second cousins of the president, none of whom knows him personally. All are grandchildren of Mary Bush House, the sister of Prescott Bush, a former US senator from Connecticut and the father and grandfather of the two Bush presidents.

The introduction to the site opens with the slogan, ''Because blood is thicker than oil!" and states: ''As the election approaches, we feel it is our responsibility to speak out about why we are voting for John Kerry, and to do our small part to help America heal from the sickness it has suffered since George Bush was appointed President in 2000. We invite you to read our stories, and please, don't vote for our cousin!"

Hilary House, 39, a third-year law student at the University of Washington, put together the site with the participation of three of her six siblings: Sheila House, Tracy Cannon, and Chris House. The four are children of Mary Bush's son Francis House III, now deceased, who taught English at a prep school in Connecticut and was a first cousin of former president George H.W. Bush. Jeanny House and Henry Kimsey-House, two children of another of Mary's sons, James House, also provided pro-Kerry testimonials.

The website was put up independent of the Kerry campaign, Hilary House said, adding that an e-mail she sent to the campaign about a month ago had not been answered. Kerry campaign officials in Washington state and Washington, D.C., said they were unaware of the site.

Leah Yoon, spokeswoman for the Bush-Cheney campaign in Washington state, declined to comment about the site. ''They're entitled to their opinions as American citizens," said Yier Shi, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee

Hilary House said she got the idea for the site when she heard that Jeanny House, a pastor in Wisconsin, had briefly spoken to the Massachusetts senator at a Kerry event after he noticed her waving a ''Bush Relative for Kerry" sign. According to Hilary and her sister Sheila, 49, a mental health counselor in Harwich, Mass., when Jeanny explained the House family connection to the Bushes and said they were nonetheless enthusiastic about voting for Kerry, the Democratic nominee jokingly suggested they start a website.

Jeanny House declined to comment. In her statement on the site, she denounces what she describes as Bush's ''imperialist cabal" and stated that her understanding of Christianity, based on a concern for peace and social justice, was not compatible with the more conservative brand of Christianity embraced by the president.

All of the House family members writing on the site are sharply critical of the president. Hilary House said she did not feel comfortable telling friends and acquaintances of her family connection to the president, given his conservative views, until putting up the website, which was completed about a week ago. ''I was very quiet about my family relationship," she said. ''I was really, really embarrassed to be related to the president."

Personal ties between this generation of the House family and the Bush family are minimal. As the House children grew up in Windsor, Conn., the Bush family was reestablishing itself in Texas. Hilary House and her two cousins attended the 1989 inauguration of the current president's father, and met him at a private family luncheon there, according to Hilary House. Both Sheila and Chris House had met George H.W. Bush briefly when they were younger.

''I can't describe us as particularly close to the Bush family," said Sheila House. ''I've never met George W. Bush and don't particularly care to."

The previous generation of the House family was much closer to the Bushes.

Francis House was friendly with George Bush senior when they were growing up, his children said. Both attended Yale, as did the current President Bush. Though Francis House shared his family's decidedly liberal political views, he voted for Ronald Reagan after the elder Bush was selected as Reagan's vice-presidential nominee, and for his cousin during his successful 1988 presidential race.

''His family connections still tied him to the Republican Party," said Chris House, 36, a high school English teacher in Olympia, Wash. ''My dad at heart was a social liberal, but he was constantly pressured by his mom that you've got to vote along family lines."

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.

Tracy (S. Chatham, MA): "I am voting for John Kerry this year as much out of need as desire. I have always liked him as a politician as well as a human being and I have never doubted his ability to run this country. I feel we need him now more than ever. The very thing that our president, my cousin, criticizes him for is exactly what makes him a natural leader, the ability to see when an error has been made and to be willing to do whatever it takes to fix it. The difference is, whatever needs fixing (the war in Iraq, joblessness, health insurance, social security, etc, etc) will be approached with a level head and the ability to see all sides of a problem. John Kerry will keep an open mind and remember that although we live in a great and powerful country, this world is filled with countries, all of whom deserve a voice. The overwhelming arrogance and knee jerk mentality that has consumed our government as of late will lead only to further mayhem and more rash decisions. It must stop.

I am blessed to have been born into a happy, middle-class, well-educated family. My parents made sure, however, that we never took any of that for granted and taught us to feel for those that have less than we. I truly believe that empathy is the greatest difference between these two candidates. George W. Bush is a man of limited vision and seemingly little compassion. I have always known that John Kerry has the greater good of not only our country, but the world as a whole in mind. It makes me sad that I cannot with good conscience vote for a member of my family. I am not someone who takes this lightly. However today, the lives of so many people hang in the balance that my role as an American is far more important than that of a cousin."
Hilary (Seattle, WA): "I'm voting for John Kerry because he'll make a better President. He'll fight for families, for children and for women. He'll help America restore its shattered reputation in the world, and he'll move the world to a more peaceful place. George W. Bush's grandfather and my grandmother were brother and sister. As much as I'd like to vote for a relative running for President, I just can't. His economic policies have destroyed lives, and his military policies continue to result in death on a daily basis. Enough is enough! After September 11th, Americans understandably became scared. But are we so scared that we've stopped caring about health care, the elderly, children, education and jobs? That doesn't sound like America to me! John Kerry will lead us in the right direction. He'll combat terrorism while at the same time moving America towards a more just, productive and respectable place in the world. John Kerry is better for business, he's better for families, and he's better for America. "

Technically, Bush Relatives for Kerry could include John Kerry himself.

Technically, Bush Relatives for Kerry could include John Kerry himself.
Yes... ninth cousins twice removed, or something? I sure know all of my nine cousins, once and twice and thrice removed... for sure.

That site's interesting, even if none of their arguments are that original...

Now this is what I call grasping at straws. Bush's second cousin twice-removed is voting for Kerry. Excuse me while I yawn. Or laugh. It's laughable because it's so stupid.