OKAY, MAYBE I’M WRONG: Maybe outsourcing won’t be such a big election issue after all:

By the way, the Kerry family business, H.J. Heinz Co. of Pittsburgh, operates 22 factories in the United States and 57 in foreign countries. I don’t think that Kerry should shut down The Heinz 57, but he might drop the rhetoric and talk about trade responsibly.

I can hear it now: “57 varieties of outsourcing!” I don’t think it would be smart for Kerry to raise this issue in the general election.

UPDATE: A bunch of people think that the quote above is unfair to Kerry. Here’s an excerpt from one email, from reader Eric Hoffstein:

First, I agree with the main contention of Glassman’s article–that free trade is generally positive. However, I think that the above comment is misleading and inaccurate (I have done some research on this issue). The Heinz company is hardly the “Kerry family business.” Kerry’s current (and 2nd) wife is the heir of Penn. senator John Heinz. That is, she only inherited part of Heinz interest in the Heinz family trust, which, while it does have some holdings in Heinz, is not related or a subsidiary or partner of Heinz Co. Kerry’s wife is not on the board of Heinz nor does she currently hold any position with the company. Therefore, while Kerry’s wife has what could be perhaps considered an indirect relationship with Heinz, she has no control or influence over their business decisions–presumably Kerry, as the second husband, has even less.

Further, to Heinz’s credit, they are widely considered to be an”employee friendly” employer and have instituted a sort of code of good conduct to apply to all their employees, including foreign ones. They do have foreign plants but they are not “outsourced” plants–companies in the food biz have to localize their production to some extent, especially where some fruits and vegetables are concerned.

True enough (though compare the treatment of Cheney’s equally indirect Halliburton ties), and I didn’t read the quote above — and didn’t intend my response to it — as an on-the-merits slam of Kerry, but rather as an indicator of how the issue might be spun in an election.

I also should note that I consider Heinz Ketchup to be one of the very best American products in existence, head and shoulders over its American competition. Hunt’s ain’t bad, and Libby and Del Monte can hold their head up, but none of ’em can hold a candle to Heinz. I think it’s swell that they’re making it, and selling it, in lots of countries. It’s a great product — and a terrific source of healthy lycopene!