So we're all aware of the racist - Obama as the "affirmative-action" candidate - drivel spouted by Geraldine Ferraro.
What I'd like now is for the real Geraldine Ferraro to step forward.
In an NYT articlefrom back in 2006, the discussion of a Black man vs. a woman as president included comments from Jesse Jackson and Geraldine Ferraro.
What's interesting is that despite Ferraro's diss of Jesse Jackson in 1988 and her diss of Senator Obama now, she's signing was siging a different tune in 2006.
The article notes the progress made by women and African-Americans but points out that it appears gender is moving more quickly than race.
Times are indeed changing. But how much?
Over the past of the past eight years, in the view of analysts from both parties, the country has shifted markedly on the issue of gender, to the point where they say voters could very well be open to electing a woman in 2008. That is reflected, they say, in polling data and in the continued success of women running for office, in red and blue states alike. "The country is ready," said Senator Elizabeth Dole, the North Carolina Republican, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2000. "I’m not saying it’s going to happen in ’08. But the country is ready."
By contrast, for all the excitement stirred by Mr. Obama, it is much less certain that an African-American could win a presidential election. Not as many blacks have been elected to prominent positions as women. Some high-profile black candidates — Harold Ford Jr., a Democrat running for the Senate in Tennessee, and Michael Steele, a Republican Senate candidate in Maryland — lost in November. And demographics might be an obstacle as well: black Americans are concentrated in about 25 states — typically blue ones, like New York and California. While black candidates cannot assume automatic support from black voters, they would at least provide a base. In states without big black populations, the candidate’s crossover appeal must be huge.
Jesse Jackson agreed:
"All evidence is that a white female has an advantage over a black male — for reasons of our cultural heritage," said the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, the civil rights leader who ran for president in 1984 and 1988. Still, he said, for African-American and female candidates, "It’s easier — emphatically so."
Interestingly..so did Ferraro:
Ms. Ferraro offered a similar sentiment. "I think it’s more realistic for a woman than it is for an African-American," said Ms. Ferraro. "There is a certain amount of racism that exists in the United States — whether it’s conscious or not it’s true."
"Women are 51 percent of the population," she added.
So what happened? Did things change so much since 2006? If so, I'm not sure what and she certainly hasn't explained how.
Or were her recent comments this just another cynical use of racism/sexism by a Clinton surrogate attempting to derail Obama's campaign no matter what the cost?
That's my guess.
Perhaps an intrepid reporter will ask her about her own words from 2 years ago but I'm not going to hold my breath.