(2004-04-22) — Just hours after telling reporters that he doesn’t own an SUV but his family does, Sen. John Forbes Kerry announced today that he had gained permission from his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, to drive the family’s Chevy Suburban on brief trips to the grocery store or dry cleaner.

“I didn’t ask to take it on the campaign trail because it gets lousy gas mileage which is bad for the environment,” said Mr. Kerry. “But I was excited when Teresa told me that I could run out to the Piggly-Wiggly in the big rig.”

Mr. Kerry’s spokesman later explained that, “the family calls the SUV ‘the big rig’, not Senator Kerry, because it’s not his vehicle, so he doesn’t need a nickname for it. The SUV belongs to someone else in the family-in this case, his wife, but not the Senator.”

President Bush could not be reached for comment because, according to his spokesman, “he’s out hauling some lumber in his Ford F-250 Super Duty, four-door pickup truck.”