When Geraldine Ferraro, the first ever female vice presidential nominee for the Democratic Party, told a California newspaper:
“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position (as front runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination), “and if he was a woman 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.”
She was either: a) not thinking at all, b) was speaking out of anger because she was on the team that is currently loosing (she was on Hillary Clinton’s campaign finance team), or c) she really believes that Barack Obama is succeeding because he is a black man running against a white woman.
I think “c” is probably the correct answer and, if it is, that certainly doesn’t speak very highly for Ms. Ferraro’s intelligence or for her objectivity.
Obama’s response to Ms. Ferraro’s mouthings was priceless (and accurate); according to a Rueters article (linked below):
When asked about Ferraro’s remarks, Obama said that being an ‘African American man named Barack Obama’ was not the quickest path to becoming U.S. president.
Barack Obama is where he is today, which is very close to becoming the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party, because he is intelligent, an excellent speaker and possesses that nearly mystical quality of ‘charisma;’ in short, he is all the things Clinton is not.
Everywhere Barack Obama goes, he speaks in platitudes and slogans, refines and repeats the mindless Liberal drivel about our “damaged status in the world,” castigates President Bush for all sorts of supposed crimes against the American people and against humanity in general, and yet . . . yet he charms the pants off of his audiences. Does anyone think . . . or COULD anyone seriously think that this happens only because he is black?
As result of the uproar in the press and within the Democratic party over Geraldine Ferraro’s remark, Ferraro has tendered her resignation from Sen. Clinton’s campaign; just as, last week, a foreign policy adviser on Obama’s campaign staff was forced to resign for calling Clinton a “monster.”
My, aren’t we being nice — and that “we” includes Sen. McCain, who will be the Republican presidential standard bearer, and who has forbidden any member of his staff to be rude or to call the two Democrats any uncivil names. I wonder just how long all this niceness will last!
In the debates that will follow the two nominating conventions it’s almost a sure bet that the two candidates will be trading jabs and accusations, will be spouting exaggerated truths about themselves and each other and may even engage in some name calling; so for now, let’s enjoy the civility.
News Links:
Reuters: Geraldine Ferraro defends remarks about Obama
ABC News: Ferraro Steps Down From Clinton Campaign
Blog Links:
Bolson on: For Geraldine Ferraro: Obama’s popularity is a black and white issue.
Pennsylvania for Change: Clinton backer Geraldine Ferraro sparks new Obama race storm
Whymrhymer’s P.O.V. can also be found at the My View from the Center and at the American Chronicle.
1 user commented in " The Blackness of Barack Obama "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackIt is ironic and absurd that Obama is to be blamed for the Clinton’s campaigns’ repeated injection of race:
Ferarro: Obama’s lucky to have the advantage of being black.
Rendell: Obama’s worthy but can’t win PA because he’s black.
Clinton: Obama in SC is the same as Jackson in S.C.: they’re black.
Much more “obvious” than the finally fading relevance of race is the irrepressable need of the elder statemen of the Clinton campaign to talk about it. It seems emblemetic of their generation of politicians and more than a little anachronistic, and in that way, pathetic.
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