Boston

VANESSA and Alexandra (“Alex”) Kerry love their father. They love him so much that they had breakfast with 40 inquiring journalists eager to get the inside scoop on their relationship with dad at the Colonnade Hotel this morning. The sisters arrive at 8:15 a.m. and shake hands with every single reporter in the room before sitting down to a big plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, and fried potatoes. Even though the two arrive a mere 15 minutes behind schedule, 27-year-old Vanessa apologizes repeatedly for their tardiness. But the reporters don’t mind. They’re clearly pleased to get a break from the more impersonal proceedings on the Fleet Center convention floor, and welcome the chance to ask the busy young ladies about their increasingly public roles in dad’s fight for the White House.
An editor at the Christian Science Monitor moderates the breakfast-table discussion and attempts to make the sisters feel at ease. Neither girl eats much of her breakfast (they ate earlier), and Vanessa does most of the talking. “To be totally candid, I am scared [of media attention]. . . . This is a big adventure, this is a very new process for us, but the . . . reason, I think, we are both here in front of all of you is the idea of service.” Indeed, stumping for dad is not an easy service to render when the media watch your every move.