March 11, 2008
Obama Camp Wants Clinton to Denounce Ferraro's Remarks; Ferraro Defends Herself
An interview that former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro made to a small California newspaper is causing a stir in the Barack Obama campaign. Ferraro, a supporter of Hillary Clinton, told a Daily Breeze reporter, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
Obama's campaign manager David Axelrod told reporters Clinton should denounce the remarks and remove Ferraro from the campaign's finance committee, "The bottom line is this: When you wink and nod at offensive statements, you're really sending a signal to your supporters that anything goes."
Ferraro, also discussed the "sexist media," "I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama's campaign - to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against."
The first-ever female VP candidate formerly worked in the Queens DA's office and represented Queens in Congress and is currently a lawyer in a consulting group. In the recent past, she's been mentioned during the Democratic mayoral race in 2005, when she supported Fernando Ferrar and his rival's campaign strategist said, "I had to spend a few minutes remembering who [Ferraro] was."
And speaking of VP candidates, Obama thinks the talk of him being Clinton's VP is stupid.
UPDATE: Ferraro gave another statement to The Daily Breeze:
"Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up," Ferraro said. "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?"She also appeared on Fox News, explaining she was offended that people thought she was racist (she's fought for civil rights for 40 years) and if she weren't a woman, she would never have been a VP candidate in 1984: "What I find offensive is everytime somebody says something about the campaign, you're accused of being racist."
Ferraro also thought Harvard sociology professor Orlando Patterson's NY Times op-ed about Clinton's 3 a.m. ad having a racist subtext was ridiculous and emphasized she's not a Clinton surrogate and doesn't care if she's kicked off the finance committee (but she'll still raise money for Hillary).
Clinton, who hasn't removed Ferraro from her finance committee, has said, "It is regrettable that any of our supporters on both sides, because we've both had that experience, say things that kind of veer off into the personal. We ought to keep this on the issues."
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And if Ferraro was a man, we'd be well on the way to exiling her because she had the gall to say this.
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position."
what position? winning?
"And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position."
what position? running for the nomination? like
hillary? did she suddenly stop being a woman?
"He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
who is he? the better candidate?
on the eve or near any primary, there is always some dirt from the clinton side to get votes. in any war, it's easy to throw some minor casualties for the long run, in this case ferraro.
obama 08, better than the rest.
Gotta say, that statement was bordering on racist, arguably incorrect, and definitely stupid.
can someone PLEASE fix the double posting bug? The web page is caching the comments that people post and if you refresh the page before navigating away, it posts again. It's a simple fix.
She should know -- if Ferraro wasn't who she is (white female) she would never have been a candidate for Vice President.
Maybe she should have said, "If Obama was a white man, he MIGHT not be in this position."
And Landor, it is racist. Right? A judgment about someone's status or abilities that puts race before all other atributes.
Geraldine Ferraro is a monster.
love liberal hypocracy
what a stupid bitch.
I know. Liberals like her and Clinton can be such "not in my backyard" hypocrites.
You know, throw black people a bone time to time but don't give them any real power.
Even Bush had more black people in his office than Hillary has in her campaign.
I thought Obama was going to run a different kind of campaign?
while the comment is irresponsible and impolitic, it is not an example of liberal hypocricy (love fascist misspelling); it's an example of a liberal saying what she thinks is true...I agree with her...
while the comment is irresponsible and impolitic, it is not an example of liberal hypocricy (love fascist misspelling); it's an example of a liberal saying what she thinks is true...I agree with her...
Substitute "Obama" with "Hillary Clinton". Substitute "was a white man" with "was not married to a former-President".
Political Madlibs.....
so, carrbagman, you're saying that you're a closet racist?
k. good luck with that.
She's right about the media's treatment of Obama and Clinton. The media gives Obama a pass because he's a man but questions whether Clinton, as a woman, can handle the job. She's just droppin truth y'all!
matty, thanks for the insight, I've never thought about it before, oh my god, I'm a closet racist
matty, thanks for the insight, I've never thought about it before, oh my god, I'm a closet racist
carrybagman, you're also a serial poster.
work on those issues, yeah?
They question whether Clinton can do the job because she makes such a point of saying she can do the job and Obama can't. If you're going to push a point be prepared to have it brought up. Clinton is often getting caught out like that.
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position."
Why? Would she have her mobbed-up husband have Obama whacked for runnibg against Hillary?
Dems gone wild! Dem on Dem Action! Watch as the Democratic party destroys itself from within while the republicans sit and laugh! Now with more Spitzer prostitution scandal recoil!
Oh gosh! The fabled lucky black man! The same lucky black man who gets all the government jobs and gets into all the good schools that Newt Gingrech warned me about!
Gosh, all these black people are soooo lucky to live in America.
I hate this argument, I have no use for Geraldine Ferraro any more.
Her comment was ridiculous, racist, stupid. It's nice to see that so many people recognize this.
...
...
(sigh)
I get it: She really wants Sen. Obama to win and hurt Sen. Clinton!
I wonder if she's a shrill man hating bitch like Hillary?
Mister Blobby,
Hillary doesn't hate men and she isn't a bitch. Give her a break, fatty fish.
BabyHitler,
If you think the bickering is hurting the Democratic party, take a look at the numbers at the polls.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/03/10/us/0310-nat-CAUCUS.jpg
As of March 10 over 27 million Democrats have have made it the polls, as compared to the Republicans 17.5 million. An incredible number of Democrats have registered to vote because of the race between Obama and Clinton. It will be quite easy for these people to vote against McCain come November.
As much as I would like this to be over, the longer this race continues the better it is for the Democratic Party.
Obama '08
White liberals are losing so many pounds of guilt jumping up and down chanting Obama's name that I half expect him to announce Richard Simmons as his running mate any day now.
She is right about one thing: All losing presidential candidates have been white men. No black man has ever become a major party's nominee and lost. Obama wouldn't stand a chance if he were white.
Uh. And if I weren't who I am, I wouldn't be where I am. We all have our advantages and perks (as well as disadvantages and balls and chains) resulting from who we are, so Geraldine's comment is not just racist in intention, it's also totally not even worthy of reflection. I would've said "No shit, Sherlock" to myself before calling myself a racist shit-stirrer before pronouncing those dumb words.
Obama is lucky to be who he is, and I'm happy for him! I wouldn't be a white man for anything in the world! I'm a mixed race woman, and pretty happy about it. I feel sorry for all those people who can't break out of their bigotry. For me, it's easy. I hate everyone, and love everyone equally, according to merit.
"The fabled lucky black man!" --pfg.heh!
The Democrats are apparently all working very to elect McCain.
Take it like a man, Obama.
He/she who fucks up least in this race will win it. It's not who wins, it's who doesn't lose.
Geraldine Ferraro is an OBAMAnation!
Get it? Do I get brownie points?
I also love at that end of that Fox clip where she threatens Obama by saying he better not mess with people like her because they won't raise money for him in the Fall.
Uh... ok lady.
She should do another Pepsi ad and say "If I were a black man, I'd be shilling for Orange Fanta." That wouldn't be racist, right?
Gerry's got in wrong. It's not "every time you say something about the campaign, you're racist." It's "every time you feel the need to say someone only achieved what he has because of his race, you're racist."
Shame on Her for one who was close to death with
Cancer she should have a little humility and
compassion but what can you expect from a woman
who married a NY Landlord ?
Luckiest black man in America today:
David Paterson!
Obama's got nothing on him.
It's impossible to know what Obama would be if he had different physical traits. His entire perspective and life experiences have been affected by his race. I think it's naive to say it's not part of his phenomenal success. It's not the dominant issue. But, it's not irrelevant.
Ferraro was un-PC and impolite and not racist.
carrybagman and HughGass - It's hypocrisy .
Geraldine is the kind of female politician Clinton can never be: stern without sounding shrill; genuine without sounding magnanimous; opinionated without being ambiguous. It's a damn shame she got stuck behind such a sagging loaf of whitebread like Mondale back in 1984.