Do you agree with Geraldine Ferraro's comments?

[More Than A Feeling]

TIn an interview with the Breeze, Ferraro said, "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."

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_8533832

and

" '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?'...

"Ferraro said she was simply stating an obvious truth, as seen in exit polls that show Obama taking as much as 80 percent of the black vote in the Democratic primaries.

" 'In all honesty, do you think that if he were a white male, there would be a reason for the black community to get excited for a historic first?' Ferraro said. 'Am I pointing out something that doesn't exist?' ...

"She also said she is familiar with Axelrod from his work for minority candidates in New York.

" 'He knows damn well that the best thing to do in a situation like this is to come back and hit with race,' Ferraro said, adding that the response is a sign that the Obama campaign is 'worried' about the first-term senator's lack of experience.
Ferraro said she was not trying to diminish Obama's candidacy, and acknowledged up front that she would not have been the vice presidential nominee in 1984 if she had been a man."

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/11/757137.aspx

[Kittycat]

1. I hope the people that agree either qualify it (which they can't)

Or get tombstoned for being racists at a dem site, and clearly freepers.

[Redbear]

27. I voted agree. I also voted for Obama and think he will be a fine president

But, I do agree that it is a net positive for him in this race that he is black. Its an extremely complicated issue and I don't see that it is as simple as most of you suggest.

In the perfect world that MLK spoke about, all that will matter is a person's character. We still have a long way to go to get there because skin color still matters to a lot of people, both white and black.

When I first heard Ms. Ferraro's comments I thought they were the natural extension of what Joe Biden said at the beginning of this race, that "a mainstream African American candidate" would be "a storybook." Biden knew then and Ferraro is frustrated now by the currents of history that make this the perfect time for history to be made.

What Ms. Ferraro refers to "us getting caught up in" is the making of that history.

Does it excite me that I am part of history and helping to end a racial barrier by supporting Obama. Yes, it does.

Would that excitement exist if Sen. Obama were white? Obviously not.

Is that excitement of things being new and casting off the old ways of only white men being Presidents part of why Obama is winning? Heck yes, and its a wonderful thing.


I await your ritual stoning and if you succeed in getting me tombstoned for not seeing this as you see it, it's been nice knowing you folks.

[babylonsister]

2. Simply amazing; she starts the dialogue on race and then blames him

for it? She's not as sharp a pol as anyone thought apparently. Where's that foot in mouth pic?

And then there's her history...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5028671

[Swamp Rat]

9. Classic bait and switch.

;)

[Abacus]

18. That's been the Clinton campaign M.O. for months: attack and play the victim at the same time. /nt

[Double T]

3. BO keeps dealing the race card from the BOTTOM of the deck.........

while the MSM obamagantists play on.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

7. And how exactly is he doing that?

Please, PLEASE try to defend Ferraro's comments. And try to do it with more than a catch phrase.

[americanstranger]

10. Not a chance.

They're all in hit and run mode tonight.

Blind. Fucking. Rage.

That's all they've got, because they can't defend the indefensible.

- as

[Double T]

15. OK.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/02/27/wilentz_and_obama/

[babylonsister]

19. That has NOTHING to do with the OP. Nice try. nt

[Double T]

28. And I disagree.

"It may strike some as ironic that the racializing should be coming from a black candidate's campaign and its supporters. But this is an American presidential campaign -- and there is a long history of candidates who are willing to inflame the most deadly passions in our national life in order to get elected.

Enough said.

[babylonsister]

31. The Clinton campaign has been doing it.

Racism? Should I start with Bill Clinton in SC, the Muslim smears that were e-mailed by Clinton volunteers, to reverse racism by Bob Johnson. So many 'surrogates', so little time.

Name one instance where Obama has tried to cash in on racism. He hasn't. He defends himself, has to, and I'm all for it.

[Quixote1818]

8. Show me where Obama ever claimed racism?

How would you like it if someone downplayed your smarts, talents and accomplishments and suggested they were only due to your being tall or good looking or black or yellow or whatever?

[k8conant]

13. Nah, he got it dealt to HIM from the BOTTOM of the deck

[fishwax]

26. BO made her say that racist drivel?

:eyes:

[saltpoint]

4. Clearly the cheese has done slipped off Aunt Geraldine's cracker.

[k8conant]

11. ...and she cut the cheese herself first

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

5. I don't know what is more stunning to me

The fact that she made this comment at all;
or that she followed it up with an equally offensive comment today;
or that she hasn't been fired yet;
or that there are actually people on DU who will DEFEND this comment!

Astounding.

[IndianaGreen]

14. If Hillary got caught buying kittens are a pet shop to feed her pet python

there will be people blaming Obama for it.

What we got here is a Hillary cult of personality very similar to the one Bush has.

[JackORoses]

21. what about the fact that she made the same exact statement about Jesse Jackson in 1988

[babylonsister]

23. Rec'd your post! nt

[americanstranger]

6. Hell to the no.

She sounds like some crazy old woman out in Queens, hunkered in her living room and muttering about 'the blacks.'

And Hillary has refused to do the right thing so far.... that's pretty sad.

- as

[Hutzpa]

12. Wow! 13% actually agree with Geraldine's

comments, amazing....what are they doing here beats me.......:shrug:
this is the reason why threads get flamed and can also be deceitful.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

16. Her statements are inarguably true, but I do not support them as words of someone affiliated with a

campaign.

If you have a connection with a campaign there are a million true things you ought not say.

As Micheal Kinsley noted long ago, almost all gaffes are instances of politicians accidentally telling the truth.

But seriously... anyone who doesn't think her comments are literally true, as spoken, is demented.

And Hillary wouldn't have been the front-runner last year if she wasn't Bill Clinton's wife.

Duh!

[Colobo]

24. What do you think about this, Kurt?

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/A_Ferraro_flashback.html

[David Zephyr]

17. It's clear to me that Geraldine is a bigot. And a racist.

Her statement about Obama was bad enough, but now taken with the fact that she made the same outrageous slur against Jesse Jackson, we now know everything we need to know about Bigot Ferraro.

She's using race as a wedge issue for political power: that is classic racism.

She is a racist.

[MrSlayer]

20. Her comments are sickening.

Put on your Klan hood, asshole, and have done with it.

[RBInMaine]

22. Clinton better "reject" (or "denounce) old Gerry pretty fast. Ha ha.

And if she doesn't, she's basically screwed even harder than what happened to her in MS and WY.

[tammywammy]

25. Not only no, but Hell NO

It sickens me that there are posters on DU that do agree with the.

[XemaSab]

29. Ol' Hillary seems to be rocking the Southern Strategy pretty hard

Totally, completely indefensible. x(

[cooolandrew]

30. Best let this storydie Barack is fine with things so should we be let's emulate his grace.

[More Than A Feeling]

32. He is?

Axelrod said the Clinton campaign’s response was not enough and that “she ought to be removed” from any responsibilities she has on the campaign’s finance committee or in any other way related to the campaign.

“Ferraro should be denounced and censured by the campaign,” Axelrod said. “Samantha resigned, because it was not consistent with the kind of campaign we want to run. We want a candidate and president who will live by their words.”

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/11/755677.aspx

or how about this?

"I don't think Geraldine Ferraro's comments have any place in our politics or in the Democratic Party," he said in an interview with a Pennsylvania newspaper. "They are divisive. I think anybody who understands the history of this country knows they are patently absurd.

"And I would expect that the same way those comments don't have a place in my campaign they shouldn't have a place in Senator Clinton's either."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/12/wuspols212.xml

[B Calm]

33. She just blew Hillary's chances for the VP spot!

[aaronbees]

34. Ferraro sure doesn't understand racism...

if she believes "racism works in two different directions." Smacks of rightwing "reverse racism" bullshit.

So no, I don't agree with her, and I think these comments fired off by Clinton surrogates seem suspiciously calculated.