The Trail: A Daily Diary of Campaign 2008

obama has already proven he is a racist just listen to his pastor he is a racist trying to play the race card what a joke because of his racist pastor and church 20% of democratic voters will vote for mccain if democrats dont think this will hurt them they are fooling no one i am in that 20% and proud of it anyone who carries their young kids to a church that teaches hate and racism is a disgrace obama should be ashamed of himself bringing his kids up to hate he has done more to harm race relations and to harm the democratic party than anyone who has ever run for president but he doesnt care as long as he wins it doesnt matter to him if he destroys the democratic party he could care less thats why if he gets the nomanation i am voting for mccain and plan to change from democrat to independent by supporting obama kennedy kerry and other democrats who support obama are saying they support racism and hate what else can it mean if you support someone who believe in racism and hate obama supporters are hoping all this will go away but it wont i am sure the republicans will make sure wrights sermon is played over and over until people see what kind of person he is

Among the causes of our travails under Bush is his grotesque loyalty to incompetents who flatter him by their loyalty to his incompetence. Hillary reportedly has the same management flaw: an afflicting addiction to bad people as exhibited with Ferraro (and some would say, Bill and that woman who was her campaign manager). Another 8 years of an executive who can't prioritize principle over her buddies. No, no, no, no.....

Each candidate is the sum of his/her parts and they are each where they are as a direct result of that sum. Part of his "sum" is that he's black; he wouldn't be where he is if he weren't. Nor would she be where she is if she were male. Neither of them would be where they are if they were Republican but that particular identifier is not nearly as flammable.

If we study the exit polls in various states to see where the candidates support comes from it is difficult to call Geraldine Ferrarro's comments racist. In the state of Maryland, Obama got 82% of the Black vote and 42 % of the white vote. Clinton got only 15% of the black vote and 52% of the white vote. 37% of the electorate was black and 53% was white and Obama prevailed easily. Without the heavy black vote Obama probably may not have won. Thus Ms. Ferrarros comments seem to have been largely factual. The black vote was even stronger for Obama in South Carolina and pretty consistent with the Maryland results. We say every day that Clinton's biggest support group is women and no one seems offended at that, so why should offense be taken when similar comments are made with respect to racial support? It seems only natural that black people would want one of their own to be president and would tend to provide Obama with strong support. It is also interesting that Obama got more of the white male vote than did Clinton 48% to 45%. What does that tell us? That white males prefer a black male as president over a white female, perhaps? This is not a racist comment nor is it reflective of a bias against women or a criticism of the white male voter, it is merely an observation of what the facts seem to suggest.

Didn't anyone else watch the interview with Ann Curry and Mrs. Ferraro? She said she never said those words and those words came from two women in Obama's camp.

Hillary does not want for suicide bombers.

Why the fallout? She is 100% correct on her remarks. This is true.

It is very clear that Geraldine Ferraro is no woman. She is a man trapped in a woman's body. She has that butch haircut. She has that look on that face which no other woman has. She signs her name Gerry instead of Geraldine. Does she think that by saying her name is Gerry people are going to take her words more seriously than Geraldine. White people like Geraldine have so much hate for men and black people in them, they don't realize when they say hateul things that the rest of the world is laughing at them.

There is a pattern in Hillary's campaign. It is no accident why Geraldine said what she said. The Clinton's had long thought that Obama can not win if the white people don't vote for him. They set up a list of surrogates and gave them the task of reminding the white folks that Obama's skin color should be looked at before they vote for him. The Clinton's are trying very hard to bring this message, by use of surrogates. Instill enough fear in the voting public about Obama and the people will flock to Hillary. Well all the elections results point to the fact that the people are not going to bite on this poison vile.

what amazes me abt all these comments is that not one of the people making them has heard what ferraro said to diane sawyer in her own defense. once you hear that then to continue to say that she made racist remarks is ridiculous. i watched the whole interview she did with diane sawyer and it was with considerable difficulty (being constantly interrupted by sawyer) that she could speak in order to get her explanation out. ferraro is not a racist and if by chance any of you want to know the real truth of what she was trying to say then you will hopefully make an effort to actually hear the truth and not listen to all of the lies being printed in the media.

what amazes me abt all these comments is that not one of the people making them has heard what ferraro said to diane sawyer in her own defense. once you hear that then to continue to say that she made racist remarks is ridiculous. i watched the whole interview she did with diane sawyer and it was with considerable difficulty (being constantly interrupted by sawyer) that she could speak in order to get her explanation out. ferraro is not a racist and if by chance any of you want to know the real truth of what she was trying to say then you will hopefully make an effort to actually hear the truth and not listen to all of the lies being printed in the media.

Watch the videos of Obama's pastor from the church he's attended the past 20 years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWvxTUy47Fk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS_7S3hkWV0

For those who have blogged saying neither Ferraro nor Powers should have been forced to resign--free speech, you know--please remember that there is a 99.9% chance you didn't even know who they were supporting until they made their unfortunate statements. (In fact, in Powers case, few knew who she was. In Ferraro's case, you could have played a game of "alive or dead?")

As a candidate, you'd rather not have your volunteers lose votes when the ones they are adding can be counted on one hand.

Badda-bling! Back to Mulberry Street!

Can anybody tell me where exactly anybody in the Obama campaign used the word "racist" to define Geraldine Ferraro or even to characterize her remarks? (Where's JakeD when you need him?)

Stayed tuned for the next attack dog from camp clintie. Anyone who thinks this ferraro deal was not scripted by the clinties is delusional. You think even a small paper like the Daily Breeze sought out an interview with her. No. She called them on orders from Hillary. Period. This will happen again in a week or so, with another attack dog. Stay tuned.

When she said she was quitting the Clinton campaign, Ferraro made the first intelligent statement she had made in days. The initial Obama remark was stupid and she just dug herself into a hole by trying to defend it. Maybe it reflects the level of desperation in the Clinton campaign and maybe it doesn't but the Clinton people should be more careful about letting their inner feelings show. Some of them could cost Hillary the race in the unlikely event that she is the nominee.

Whatever the media thinks or says Geraldine Ferraro is a great loss to Hillary and the people of this country. She is not the cause of the race issue and dividing the people., Obama, Farrahkan and OPRAH are the people who should get the hell out of American Politics. This country needs these people like we needed GWB,Cheney and Rove.

Obama is the cause of deep division between the races. That, in fact, is what he is running his campaign on, dividing the young as well, telling them lies and about our country when he is in favor of making it almost impossible to get a higher education by increasing tuition fees. Hitler kept the people ignorant and he is working his butt off to do the same.

Obama Hussien is using the strategy of HATE AMONG THE PEOPLE, threats to political people, and not giving us a clue as to who he really is, what and how he will resolve GWB's destruction, and how he would deal with the new mid east crises which Bush is, and has been contemplating for months, to expand the war to Iran, Kill more people and bring more devistation to the world. Obama has yet to show how he would or could deal with a World Wide conflict. Terrorism is his game and we can certainly do without it. Geraldine is correct in her opinions and if we as Americans cannot express our Opinions just for the sake of Politics and put the blame where it glareingly belongs, we are in very very deep trouble indeed. Good Luck Gerry. Your input will be sorely missed.

When Obama gets 90% of the Black vote, it seems hard for him to claim that race is not a factor. It seems that the contest has come down to Blacks and White elites versus middle class and working class Whites. Ferraro made the terrible mistake of saying what everybody else thinks.

Posted by: amazd | March 12, 2008 07:26 PM
-----------------------------
I don't think everybody thinks this. Ferraro's comments were obviously much broader than the fact that Obama gets a high percentage of the black vote. She suggests that he's "very lucky" to be black, because "the country" is "caught up in the concept." This is first time I've heard someone stating that someone was "very lucky" to be an African-American, rather than a white man.

Rendell also made comments along racial lines, suggesting that many Pennsylvanians wouldn't vote for a black man. And who could forget one of Hillary's CA surrogates indicating that Hispanics do not "historically" vote for African-Americans.

If this isn't indicative of a pattern of racial divisiveness, I don't know what is. Campaigns just don't have a series of "unplanned" outbursts all promoting the same message.

The comments made by Geraldine reading race are strategic, well thought of and approved by Hillary herself. I am sure Hillary knew and approved before they were made. This is the trend in the Hillary's camp. Surrogates will make divisive comments with intended consequences and Hillary will denied any knowledge later after the effect has permeated and influenced voters minds. These are the strategies planned in Hillary's war room by well paid strategists and delivered with precision by surrogates such as Geraldine. Insinuations regarding Obama's religion, his picture with a turban, his race, his anti-prochoice, drug use were all pre-approved and delivered with much success. Geraldine's comments are specifically targeted to white voters in Pennsylvania. By stirring the race card, Hillary and her strategists believed they will get the majority of the white votes. This will have the intended consequence of taking away the edge from Obama.
Race is such a divisive force specially when used among vulnerable communities who are poor and less educated. These communities are easily misled by such rather disturbing despicable acts. Hillary will stoop to any level to win. Such is the nature of Hillary Clinton. That is what Hillary is - A person with a deficit of moral character and integrity. Hillary is a person who is not trustworthy. She will say and do anything to win. As Obama said, "This kind of gamesmanship is exactly the kind of doublespeak, double talk, that Washington is very good at, that people who spend a lot of time in Washington have a lot of experience at," Obama said. "But it's not going to solve the problems of the country."

As a reminder, Obama did not get the support of black people until Bill Clinton made those silly remarks. Clinton was leading among blacks until they introduced and painted Obama as a black candidate.

Please visit the following youtube links for a refresher and pass it on to as many people as you can, your friends, your relatives, your colleagues via email and text messaging and let them make up their minds who to nominate on the Democratic side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBXD2zizIY

Let us be brief and clear about Ferraro's statements, since it behooves no one to overstate Ferraro's misguided comments or to understate her troubling sentiment:

There is no doubt that race (and sex) play a role in the democratic primary, but by no means in some simple way. It's worth remembering, for example, that Clinton claimed a majority of African-American support prior to the election season, after which both Clintons made comments--about Obama during the South Carolina primary, about Jesse Jackson after the primary, and then about the Louisiana primary--that alienated many voters, chief among them a large African-American contingent. Obama could not claim the broad support of that contingency until (1) Clinton effectively lost them and (2) his own candidacy gained increasing legitimacy.

On the other hand, it's equally clear that Clinton has come to rely on the support of a constituency of democratic women voters, who surely respond to the fact that in this election, unlike any previous election (even in 2000, when Elizabeth Dole ran in the Republican primary), a woman in running for the presidency. Neither African-American supporters of Obama nor female supporters of Clinton are in any sense wrong to support their candidate on the basis of, respectively, race or gender: that's their choice, and it's really not possible to quibble with why. The basis of any democracy is that people are allowed to vote for whatever reason, however private, idiosyncratic, or even irrational.

However, Ferraro's comments suggest much more than a simple (dumb) inclination or the part of certain voters. Her claim--and this is where the problem begins--is (1) that Obama is underqualified and (2) that he's managed to get around this fact by virtue of his skin color. In other words, she claims that for the media, for pundits, and for voters, the fact that Obama is an African-American has propelled him into a position which experience, intelligence, and political skill do not merit. Indeed, when people say that Obama has "gotten a pass," they generally mean that, given sufficient vetting, we would all be able to agree that he is not deserving--or not as deserving as Clinton.

What Ferraro's statements have done is to take this suggestion one (tacit) step further, since she's basically saying that he gets a pass because of his race and that he uses race (or racism) to evade any critical commentary. To begin with, this contention ignores the fact that, arguably, Clinton's own identity--as a woman and former first lady--is no less responsible for her own rise to prominence. Does anyone seriously believe that her own position in the race had _nothing_ to so with the "incidental" factors of her gender? Does anyone think that, were not Clinton a woman and the wife of the former president, this two term senator would be in the position of having outlasted far more experienced candidates? Senators Biden and Dodd, as well as Governor Richardson, can claim vastly more expertise than any of the three final candidates (Edwards, like Obama, was a one-term senator; Clinton never held elected office before winning her senate seat). In fact, the entire democratic election cycle suggests that voters have rejected experience as an absolute prerequisite--to Clinton's benefit as well as Obama's.

But the real problem--the bizarre short-sightedness of Ferraro's statement--is to have actually argued that Obama's skin color is an absolute advantage in the election. Obama has stressed the unlikihood of his own position, but it bears contextualizing his candidacy in light of few facts. While we have never had a black or female president, the relative scarcity of African-American elected to major offices is staggering: there are only two black senators (based on memory), and the ascension of David Patterson to take Eliot Spitzer's post will make a grand total of two African-American governors. The fact that Obama has gotten this far in the presidential race, much less that he won a senate seat in Illinois, is not only improbable--its pretty much unprecedented. Ferraro point is that, to have reached this unlikely position, Obama has disproportionately benefited from his race. But in light of the historical context, this is totally counter-intuitive: she's basically saying that what makes Obama's (or any African-American's) chances of success statistically minimal is also what accounts for his success. For Ferraro, Obama has succeeded because he is black and not, as history would lead us to believe, in spite of the fact that he is black.

Now, Ferraro's not entirely wrong--there is a kind of unlikely distance between Obama's race, background, experience, and relative youth and his remarkable success in this election. But Ferraro is so careful--and I mean, as if following from a script--to attribute this success to race rather than in any way interrogating Obama's distinct gifts. You'd think, from her comments, that he had none.

Not for a second do I think that race (or gender, for that matter) should be glossed or treated in some absolutely inviolable and sacred sense, but like any complicated and potentially sensitive subject, shouldn't we try to be a bit more sophisticated than all of this? After all, Ferraro's underlying formula is that, as a black man, perhaps even because he is a black man, Obama is a fraud. In this analysis, his race is what makes his success both impossible and inevitable.

Ferraro basically dismisses the improbability of Obama, when in fact it needs to be analyzed and understood--for better or worse. I don't want to indict Ferraro on the basis of racism, because if she's guilty of this it's because she's guilty of a kind of sloppy reflection. One feels the anger, or even resentment, and the result is a grossly oversimplified commentary.

It is amazing that Al Sharpton, with all of his advantages as a black man running for President, didn't win the Democratic nomination last time. I guess it must have been the keen electoral strategies employed by the Kerry campaign that tipped the scale in Kerry's favor.

Barak is the one playing the race card:

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=aa0cd21b-0ff2-4329-88a1-69c6c268b304&k=5083

Barak is the one playing the race card:

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=aa0cd21b-0ff2-4329-88a1-69c6c268b304&k=5083

I knew Ferraro was a moron the moment I heard her on a news show trying to spin that Michigan's delegates should count as is because no one should have taken their name off the ballot.

She can have her opinion albeit an offensive one. However, this is totally WRONG and very poisonous. Hillary is using proxies to do her DIRT WORK. She will give white house back to Republicans.

Why is the media so scared of Senator Hillary Clinton and report it as it is?

VIDEO: Olbermann Comments on Clinton
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/12/olbermann-slams-clinton-i_n_91256.html

Keith Olbermann: Special Comment on Hillary Clinton - March 12, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBXD2zizIY

watch Keith Olbermann's comments on this tonight. He hits the nail on the head. Hillary Clinton has missed the boat on speaking out directly about Geraldine Ferraro and her blatantly racist comments. It appears to be a real pattern of the campaigns to allow offensive comments about Obama to linger as long as possible.

Her campaign is running on fumes of fear and racism.

I think Blacks are committed to their race but whites are not.Still they are voting for Obama though they should vote for Hillary.
That is why Obama hasnot won any big state like California,NJ etc.If Obama becomes nominee he is going to lose Republicans for sure.
Indeed Ferraro is right.

Race is an issue, as one can see from the "demographic" figures from Hillary's and Barack's web pages:

http://newsusa.myfeedportal.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=57

THE BOTTOM LINE: . . RIGHT? OR WRONG?

Was Bill Clinton right to compare Obama to Jackson? . . . . Heck he was right on spot. Over 80% of the black vote when to Obama and before that Jackson. Obvious, right? But the media ranted and ranted and ranted that Bill played the "race card" because he told the truth (but wasn't politically correct).

Was Ferraro right? . . . Well, just ask yourself, if Obama was white, would he still be in the running? Heck, under-qualified and with a second rate Health Care Plan! . . he'd be running a distant 3rd, with Edwards challenging Hillary for the top spot (if she wasn't running away with it).

Then what's all the hype about? The CORPORATE media could not stand Hillary as the front runner. . . . Let's face it, the CORPORATE Republicans want to run against Obama.

If he saw her on the street, Diogenes would have grabbed his lamp and run in the opposite direction.

Will Rogers never met Hillary Clinton, and so was lucky he never met someone he didn't like.

And Patrick Henry would have had to amend: "Give her the nomination, Democrats, or she will give us death!"

Since when has politics been allowed to become such regression at the expense of the ego?

The post-Baby Boomer candidate is much more mature.

Obama '08.

I have to disagree with Geraldine Ferarro in her assessment. You can only attribute 50% of his success to date to the color of his fathers skin. The other 50% must be attributed to the ignorant masses being manipulated like puppets by the media and the campaign directors. It is a darn shame when an American cannot express their personal opinion on a topic that involves race without being tarred and feathered and riden out on a rail. The real joke is how deep they had to dig to even come up with this story; I don't even think that paper has 20 pages in it and I know for a fact it sells for $0.25 daily. But some puppet called the campaign who alerted the media and broke out the tar.
I support Geraldine Ferarro for having the guts and confidence to express her personal opinions and I encourage her to continue doing so; I for one would appreciate hearing more out of her!

What is the big deal on what Ferraro said? All these talking heads like Chris Mathews, Howard Feynman, and the gang at MSNBC, CNN etc, are all shedding crocodile tears on a factual statement by Ferraro. May be she could have been a little politically correct; but she is not running for nothing . She is right if Obama was not a son of a white woman and an African man, would white America accept him as they would say Jesse Jackson or the reverend Sharpton (incidentally both men are as eloquent as Obama if eloquence was the only criteria both men would have ...). So she is saying he is a lucky man -- I guess for him running for the presidency at the right time and against not too strong competitors. Let us face it, Obama went to the right schools, did some community service, served as a state legislator and a couple years as US Senator --a thin resume with no spectacular achievements-- all one can say about him is he is a work in progress with some potential. But as Ferraro said he is lucky. His experience can't be extended to a typical black man or for that matter a woman in which by all measures there are hidden forces that shackle black people from progressing ( some of it obviously is self generated).The talking heads like Andrea Mitchell and others like her and that ungrateful youngish Susan Rice, she was given a high position in the Clinton Administration were she dubbed herself as African Affairs experts which she knows nothing about, are fanning this controversy when one evaluates it objectively in the final analysis is much ado about nothing.

Obama has no idea what he is up against.
Posted by: VirginiaConservative | March 12, 2008 06:29 PM

Actually he does, two Republicans, one old crazy guy and one old racist gal.

Yesterday was Ferraro.

Obama is Tomorrow.

Please visit the following youtube link for a refresher and pass it on to as many people as you can, your friends, your relatives, your colleagues via email and text messaging and let them make up their minds who to nominate on the Democratic side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBXD2zizIY

Mr. Obama seems to be the only one that can use the race card and get a pass.Anyone else bringing up the subject of race gets their comments turned around and they themselves called bigots

I'm still waiting for Hillary to "reject and denounce" the Ferraro remarks. Fair is fair.

And I must admit, it was quite newsworthy to read Obama is fortunate to be a black man. If he were any more lucky, he'd be Native American.

Thanks Geraldine Ferraro for one of the most stupid, embarrassing, and unnecessary remarks of the campaign. I say this as a Hillary supporter. And, as for Hillary's foreign policy experience, it doesn't really count, does it? She was the president's wife. Bill is the one with experience. Hillary was along for the ride. The Clinton campaign is a mess. I'll vote for her, but I am getting increasingly ticked off with her tactics and her tactless surrogates.

What a society we have become when a person is attacked because they say what they feel, especially when they have real experience and background in making their comments. It tells you something about what type of society we face if Obama becomes President. It will be harder to criticize him than to criticize Bush because comments will always be labeled racist by his supporters. Wait till the real campaigning starts and you will see constant babyish behaviour. Charles Hopfl

Can't these old farts like Ferraro shut their mouth up. Ms.Ferraro is not running for office. Nobody really cares what she thinks about Obama. She is a typical 60+ white who thinks that no black man is fit to be the president of this country, regardless of how much the whole country wants him there. More than 2/3rd of this country has already voted in the primary. Obama clearly has a lot more of the peoples votes than Hillary. Even if you discount all the black votes, there is still a large white population who voted for Obama. Is ferraro just plain stupid that she can't see that.

One after the other Hillary has lined up surrogates and given them the cue to bring race into the campaign. The old British divide and conquer method of control. Hillary and her skirt chasing husband are so jealous of Obama being charismatic that they have no other way to gain control of a failing campaign than to introduce yet another surrogate Ms.Whitey Lsoosy Ferraro to toss the race card. Their hope is to create enough animosity between whites and blacks before the PA election, to garner most of the white votes. I don't know why the Clintons are still in the race. They should just pack up and goto the Cayman islands.

I don't know why she would quit, what she said was actually true. If he was white he wouldn't have it so easy. Black people have always been privaliged and born with a silver spoon in their mouths. For over 300 years they have enslaved the white man, they have humiliated and demoralized the white man. Ms. Ferraro is just sick and tired of seeing a black man come out ahead...again, so Ms Ferraro just said what needed to be said about how the black man makes it hard for other races by playing on an unlevel playing field to keep the whites down.

Well, whether or not it was "racist"...it is part of an organize campaign of the Clintons (and Clinton supporters) to reduce this smart, articulate, harvard educated person as being the "Black candidate"..as if this were somehow relevent....

why?

Why should it be mentioned at all?....and, yes, it is ugly, as well as being totally irrelevent, and playing off the worse of American traditions.

...just as in the blog-o-sphere the whispering campaign that he is a Muslim....also by Clinton supporters.

If he were white, then his race would never be mentioned. (but now it is)

If his middle name were Harry, his religion would never be questioned...or even mentioned.

(when's the last time you've heard anything about Hillary's or McCain's religion?)

..so, is the Clinton waging a racist campaign?

Are the Clintons (and their supporters) engaging in ugly politics?

Yeah, I guess, you could say they are.

Ferraro's biggest defender is Pat Buchanan. That speaks volumes.

Many of the comments on this page are overflowing with misogyny. It shows how much more sexism is remaining in the culture than there is racism. When someone says something about Barack Obama that in any way can be construed as racist, that person is roundly condemned, while, at the same time, it's open season on Hillary Clinton and those of her gender who support her.

Ferraro is a bitter angry white woman p*ssed that her dream won't come true. It is sad because I think I might understand how some women might feel that Hillary is a chance of lifetime that is slipping away. The problem is they put their hopes on the wrong woman.

Dumb dumb dumb. Does she think Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton would have had the same success as Barack Obama?? Stupid ignorant racist comments. She better apologize or Hillary is finished.

The OBama supporters posting here need mental health professional care, or detoxification from Obama's snake oil, or deprogramming from the Cult of Obama.

Geraldine Ferrarro's comments and the Clintons campaign failure to repudiate those comments is a heinous example of how the clinton campaign uses surrogates to promote racism in this campaign. Over the past several months I have vascillated in my support from clinton to obama; but now I am firmly in the obama camp in order to express my rejection of these tactics. clinton does not understand the "change" that obama's campaign promotes, as evidenced by her tammany hall style politics and tactics. She should be McCain's VP candidate. And I really want to know what Charlie Rangel's comments are on both Ferrarro's comments and Clinton's refusal to repudiate her. I cna't help but think she's playing the racist card quite deliberately before the PA primary... as James Carville has been reported as describing Pennsylvania: there's Philadelphia and Pittsburgh... and in between there's Alabama.

Thank you Geraldine Ferraro!!! You may be the one who finally is able to bring an end to the campaign of Hillary Clinton!

Does Ferraro think Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton could have won Iowa or Maine or Wisconsin or Utah???? Being a black male is an advantage in America?? Huh?? Ferraro is deranged!

Clinton has taken the first steps to make up for such a terrible campaign tactic of injecting race into this campaign. She may have just apologized. Why did it take so long? But apology does not mean that she really means it. If Clinton refrains from these tactics, only then will we know if there is anything behind those words. I hope she does for the sake of the party. But really, why should she get the nomination, when she keeps doing this stuff again and again. She has shown no dignity, like Obama. He always complements her. She only tears Obama down.

... but still no apology. In fact she attacked Obama again on the way out. What a bitter, pathetic, hateful woman.

I wonder what exactly compelled Ms. Ferraro to make the statements that she made?

Geraldine Ferraro raised concerns that the Democratic Party has to face. Obama doesn't win in large diverse states without at least a 25% African American electorate, which nevertheless traditionally vote Democratic, for a simple yet paradoxical reason. The simple and undeniable fact is that Obama--two years out of his state legislature--is not nearly as experienced or qualified as is Clinton. Stack Clinton and Obama up against each other and take race and sex out, and it's not even close. This is not a liberal or conservative or Black or White issue.

Democrats are hesitant to raise negative issues in primaries. The GOP won't hesitate in the general election. They'll bring up every weakness: Rezko, lack of experience, lack of proven bipartisan actions (besides words, Senator Obama was one of the most partisan voters in a Senate), Michelle Obama's words about lack of pride for America until Senator Obama's ascent to power, his attachment to special interests in case of nuclear power waste issue in Illinois, his building personality cult, plagiarism (whether real or not and Gov. Patrick's "successes"), and many other spots which inevitably will be found between now and November. The good thing about HRC, which she repeated many times, is that she's vetted. This means that she was in the epicenter of the White House and senatorial life. In these positions every possible negative material has been published and used against her. The same thing is true about McCain. A race between Clinton and McCain would be mainly a debate on policy differences. Obama is an unknown entity; his past is cloudy and new details--not necessarily positive--appear more frequently as the race continues.

My first vote for president was for Mondale/Ferraro back in '84. How sad to learn now what a closet racist I cast for.

Ferraro and many of the other Clinton campaign staffer will no doubt have nice jobs waiting for them at RushLimbaugh.com after this whole dirty, shameful, unsuccesful effort of theirs comes to a merciful close. They can snicker and make turban jokes during Obama's inauguration and laugh about affirmative action, or whatever rightwing nonsense does it for them at the time.

NOTE WELL: If you are working for Hillary Clinton, you are working for Rush Limbaugh. There is no longer ANY pretense of a difference. For all the country's sake, I hope you all go away, and fast. Good riddance to you.

Now, Ferraro can speak for herself. Billary must sincerely be thrilled to have a mouthpiece spewing her own venom without having to take any of the responsibility. This race is sliding into a Billary induced slime pool. And this is the candidate the superdelegates, in their ineffable wisdom, wish to back? Billary and Co. are guaranteeing that if she doesn't get the throne no Democrat will.

This is what is called kitchen sink. As we all know, Hillary Rodham Clinton and William Jefferson Clinton will say and do anything to win this election. So why is there so much hand wringing, they don't care if this makes Obama a wounded candidate in November, because the have no intention of him being the candidate. Gerry took the ball and ran with it, she laid the groundwork, and when some of the focus group results showed that this could be a problem, she agreed to leave. I for one was not inspired by Ferraro in 84, she and Walt got their butts kicked by Dutch.

If Hillary Clinton does manage to steal the election from Barack Obama, she will lose in November. Maybe that's what it will take to rid the Democratic Party once and for all of the Clintons who have been nothing but a scourge.

Barack Obama is where he is because some people are caught up in the novelty of having an eloquant black man with a muslim name as president of the united states.

He does not appear to have the demonstrated leadership, resume or credentials that provide the foundation for a traditional candidate. Its just that simple.

I also find him glib and shallow. His speeches have the ing tone of typical political hack writing. He uses the word "folks" often in his non public conversations, and makes sure to say nothing of substance.

There was Jesse Ventura, then there was Arnold Schwarzenegger and now there is Barak Obama.

Obama Hussein Hitler Mussolini Lenin Stalin. Evil 2008. Obama supporters: Gestapo, Stasi, Red Guard.

Time to call a truce between Clinton and Obama and their respective supporters. Both sides have been guilty of overt and covert under-the-belt punches.
Unless they stop these tactics, they will be responsible for handing McCain the presidency.
For more on this, read

http://www.reflectivepundit.com/reflectivepundit/2008/03/clinton-obama-c.html

There is nothing "frank" about what Ferraro said. She is a Clinton supporter, a worker in her campaign, and that's what she was trying to do, argue in favor of Hillary. If she were being frank and honest, she would have mentioned that Hillary has had a lot of built-in advantages, too. She didn't. She did try to claim that Obama's situation is similar to her experience in 1984, when I guess she thinks being a woman was a built-in advantage, but then ridiculously tried to suggest that Obama wouldn't have the same advantages if he were a woman. Face it, she was not 'speaking the truth', she was not being 'frank', she was not trying to 'say what's on everyone's minds'....she was speaking as exactly what she is, a political shill, trying to get on the good side of targeted demographics, in this case those who feel that there are some unfair handouts being given to "lucky" black men.

Another person sacrificed at the altar of PC.

I don't know if Obama would have been as successful if he were White etc. However, no question that his campaign dredges up the race issue every time they see a challenge - they did this to Bill C's comments, to Bob Johnson, to Kerrey, and of course to HRC.

Of course this tactic only works in the dem primaries where the ivory tower out of touch liberals and easily manipulated minorities are voting. Once the battle goes general, Repugs will not be so subtle (Barack, call me?), and falso rumors will fly, and before the dems know what hit them or before they could say "swift boat" the race is over, and we will have visions of McCain grinning ear to ear.

There is no point trying to make sense of Rep. Ferraro's comments.

The Clinton campaign is getting extremely desperate. They have tried to induce race into the campaign, first with President Clinton, then Gov. Rendell and since those two didn't work too well, a Kamikaze mission by Rep. Ferraro, who was determined go down in flames, but insisted on defiantly repeating increasingly outrageous statements and finding accomplices in Fox News, till she did her news cycle worth of arson.

Senator Clinton is showing her true class injecting race, fear and innuendo to try and win the nomination. I expect her surrogates to do more of same in the coming weeks.

It is so bitterly ironic that women continue to vote for Hillary. This is the wife who enabled her husband to commit perjury against a woman. She enabled and supported her husband in his abuse of power to prevent abused and harassed women from exercising their rights to sue for justice. She allowed innocent women to be vilified and tarnished by the media. She was his accomplice! It is simply tragic that women continue to support this dysfunctional and destructive couple. They have done more insult and injury to women than practically any pair in US history. How you can continue to forgive and forget these misdeeds is beyond all logic and reason.

with men, they just kick each other in the privates and move on, but with women, they don't get over it, they don't forget and they just keep getting nastier and nastier.I saw it with my girls in school. The teachers said the boys would strike out at each other if they were mad and if they were punished by the teacher, they would take their punishment and forget about it the next day. The girls would just let it fester and keep fighting among themselves. If they were punished , they would remember it all year and resent it.

We all need to let the media know that we are getting tired of all the focus on racial and gender distractions and really want to hear more about the candidates and their issues!

Today we saw and heard over and over again Obama's televised response to a question re: the Ferraro debacle AS HE STOOD IN FRONT OF ADMIRALS AND GENERALS FROM THE US ARMY, NAVY AND AIR FORCE who were gathered today to announce their endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for president! Not one word re: the gathering or the endorsement. Don't you think the Clinton campaign and Geraldine Ferraro were smiling and salivating at the fact that this distraction has completely deprived the voting public of any mention from the media of this important meeting.

If we truly care about the legitimacy of Barack Obama's candidacy we need to find a way to get the press to focus on what is important. Quite frankly it is the media's duty, not only to us but to the future of this country! They should be showing us the meat from BOTH campaigns and significantly limit the time spent on these titillating but otherwise worthless distractions.

AND -- so should all of us!

HillBilly / Macaca 2008

men just kick each other in the privates and move on, but with women it just keeps going on and on and they never forget, they just keep getting nastier.

Too little too late! Clinton and Ferraro stepped into the mud, and lost me and lots of other respectable women.

A white female voter, tired of Karl Rove style tactics.

Obama Hussein Hitler Mussolini Lenin Stalin. Evil 2008. Obama supporters: Gestapo, Stasi, Red Guard.

Clinton supporters, have heart. This fight is not over. Our candidate might lose but we have McCain to look forward to. We have the Republican Right Wing machine to look forward to. I used to dislike them with a passion but now I look to them as my savior. After all it takes evil to burn evil. Rejoice, they won't be so touchy about questioning Obama. Rejoice, this scoundrel and his bunch of rats will get their comeuppance.

HillBilly / Macaca 2008

Ferraro should have been more circumspect in view of her political experience and sensitivity to her position in the Clinton campaign, but the substance of what she said is true. If he were not an accomplished black orator, a first-term Senator like Obama with no significant legislative accomplishments and thin legal experience as a community organizer, constitutional law professor and civil rights lawyer would be unimpressive to voters of any race or sex. Race and sex are important aspects which affect how we think and behave, and it is simply naive to claim that we cannot speak frankly about these facts which make us different.

Barack Obama wanted this election to be about race - about black vs. white, about young v. old, about rich v. poor.

Barack Obama is a "divide and conquer" kind of guy. He learned well from his criminal friends in Chicago. The best political "fixers" in the world. They know how to fix elections, caucuses and mind sets.

I don't see how the media gives Obama a free pass on things like letting Jones, the "kingmaker" in the Illinois State Legislature, yank high profile bills from other lawmakers, some who worked on their bills for years, and gave them to Obama, put his name on them and they were then used to enhance Obama's political resume.

If Obama was ethical or honest, at all, he would have refused Jones doing that, but Obama didn't.

Obama people also went to election central in Chicago and sat there all day long picking apart people's applications to run for office, until they had all the contestants nullified and ineligible to run - Obama ran unopposed.

Obama is literally financially tied to Auchi, the sidekick of Saddam Hussein, who was Saddan's money launderer, arms procurer, and co-conspirator to kill the prime minister of Iraq in 1959.

Auch made political contributions to Obama and personally met him and Rezko, etc., in a Chicago hotel in 2004, after he (Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate.)

Obama has been the puppet of Rezko/Auchi ever since - that is why Auchi/Rezko helped Obama buy the 1.9 million dollar mansion that Michelle and Barack Obama wanted but couldn't afford.

Many are saying on the internet - that Obama and Auchi wanted the same thing - not to invade Iraq.

The Google Alerts on Obama/Rezko/Auchi are getting 20,000 to 30,000 hits a week for information and videos about Obama and Rezko and Kadhmi Auchi, etc. Everyone is all abuzz about this and the media's ignoring this situation is very glaring. gw.

Look it up. Washington Post, April 15, 1988. Our buddy "Gerry" with almost exactly the same quote ... different guy who just 'wouldn't be in this race unless he were black.' .. Gerry, Gerry .. we hardly knew ya. Please just disappear, or go help McCain.

I think Geraldine Ferraro is a reflection of the type of country we live in, one in which
racism reigns supreme. A country in which whites feel they are being benevolent when doing what is right. As a former civil rights advocate people like Hilliary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro never failed to surprise me - it was just a matter of time before their racist attitudes and beliefs would ooze out into the open and they would say or do something that made their racism transparent. When this contest first started I didn't think that Obama had a chance in hell to be treated fairly by whites. We live, after all, in a country whose history is steeped in a racist ideology similar to that of Adolf Hilter. An ideology that has dictated the very essence of freedom for millions of Americans. I wasn't surprised that Hilliary won Mississippi, or Ohio for that matter, Ohio has very active KKK memberships throughout the state.

However, I am surprised and, strangely enough, pleased to see the support he is getting from whites who see that change from the tired old Clinton politics is direly needed.
I am proud to see that Blacks in Mississippi turned out to vote. Mississippi is still a very dangerous place to live and voting is still today in 2008 a dangerous thing to do in a state where the soil is stained from the blood of hundreds of thousands of Blacks lynched and murdered by racists who believe for some crazy reason that this country belongs only to white America. This is at the root of Bill Clinton's "give me a break" and the Ferraro comments. What is all the fuss about, they wonder! The fuss is about 300 years of racism and oppression, being denied the RIGHT to vote; the murder, the lynchings, the hangings. In 1998 James Byrd, 49, was dragged to his death behind a truck driven by whites in Jasper, Texas. This is why Blacks are voting, not "against" whites, but to end this ongoing deadly racism which engulfs this country and which threatens the very life of every nonwhite in the nation. Blacks aren't voting for Obama because he is Black - but because they feel maybe, just maybe, he can bring about change, real change that will end the killing, end the murder, and end the discrimination.

I remember Emmett Till. I remember James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, three freedom riders found murdered in Mississippi and the murder of Medgar Evers; I remember the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and Fannie Lou Hamer and the struggle to be seated at the National Democratic Convention; and George Wallace and Gov Falbus of Arkansas. I remember the voting rights act of 1965 (which Hilliary Clinton says would not have happened without President Johnson) and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Obama doesn't speak as a Black man. He speaks as an American. Chris Matthews of Hardball said something which I thought was amusing. He said that whites are voting for Obama because he has a "white" mother. I think many whites might find comfort in that fact. However, I think if whites were honest and they examined the record, Obama is perhaps the most competent, experienced and qualified candidate to ever run for political office in the United States in many years. For many Blacks he reminds them of John F. Kennedy and the promise of Kennedy. For many Blacks and whites alike Obama brings hope where there is none. He brings with him an air of integrity which is refreshing, and it is this quality that people, all Americans, can believe in.

I see the vicious Obama supporters are out in full force tonight.

Still proving you're worse than the GOP swift boaters in your lies and vicious assaults.

What a great guy Obama must be to attract just mean, vicious, nasty supporters. Jdging him by the people who supports him, he is not fit to be president.

Geraldine Ferraro raised concerns that the Democratic Party has to face. Obama doesn't win in large diverse states without at least a 25% African American electorate, which nevertheless traditionally vote Democratic, for a simple yet paradoxical reason. The simple and undeniable fact is that Obama--two years out of his state legislature--is not nearly as experienced or qualified as is Clinton. Stack Clinton and Obama up against each other and take race and sex out, and it's not even close. This is not a liberal or conservative or Black or White issue.

Democrats are hesitant to raise negative issues in primaries. The GOP won't hesitate in the general election. They'll bring up every weakness: Rezko, lack of experience, lack of proven bipartisan actions (besides words, Senator Obama was one of the most partisan voters in a Senate), Michelle Obama's words about lack of pride for America until Senator Obama's ascent to power, his attachment to special interests in case of nuclear power waste issue in Illinois, his building personality cult, plagiarism (whether real or not and Gov. Patrick's "successes"), and many other spots which inevitably will be found between now and November. The good thing about HRC, which she repeated many times, is that she's vetted. This means that she was in the epicenter of the White House and senatorial life. In these positions every possible negative material has been published and used against her. The same thing is true about McCain. A race between Clinton and McCain would be mainly a debate on policy differences. Obama is an unknown entity; his past is cloudy and new details--not necessarily positive--appear more frequently as the race continues.

So, seeing the recent exit polls, the Clinton campaign is giving up on the black vote and courting... the racist vote?!

Wow! I'm floored.

Obama's political success has come from God-given talent and busting his butt for decades on end (among other things). Sure being black might have helped him a few times, but I'm confident it was a hinderence at least as often.

I think Hillary is conducting herself just as Bush has. Loyalty to cronies first.

Michael538
I disagree with your "Don't beat up the brother syndrome"
It's the vileness of the Clinton camp. It's Hillary's sense of entitlement to the nomination that's fueling this bs. Listen to her camp. Obama didn't wait his turn. He won't accept the VP slot. He's ruining the democrats. I could care less if they went after Obama based on his positions, but they can't make a dent there because very few people believe anything that comes out of the mouth of Hillary so "Race" is all she and her surrogates have left to gain white voters who were moving to Obama.
Hillary and her "people" are using Obama's blackness in the most profane way.

Indlouis
FYI,
Hillary has racked up huge number with white women. Is that racist? Seems to me the new logic is it's ok for Hillary to dominate the white women's vote, but it's a "bad" thing for Obama to dominate the black vote.
It seems to me the new message Clinton and white democrats are sending blacks is that it's only ok to vote for white democrats in huge numbers.
Amazing no one says this to jewish, italian or hispanic voters who overwhelming support candidates who share their ethnicity, but I guess I'll have to wait until someone from those ethnic groups runs for president and succeeds the way Obama has before I decide whether or not this kind of bs is reserved for "black people".

I think Geraldine Ferraro is a reflection of the type of country we live in, one in which
racism reigns supreme. A country in which whites feel they are being benevolent when doing what is right. As a former civil rights advocate people like Hilliary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro never failed to surprise me - it was just a matter of time before their racist attitudes and beliefs would ooze out into the open and they would say or do something that made their racism transparent. When this contest first started I didn't think that Obama had a chance in hell to be treated fairly by whites. We live, after all, in a country whose history is steeped in a racist ideology similar to that of Adolf Hilter. An ideology that has dictated the very essence of freedom for millions of Americans. I wasn't surprised that Hilliary won Mississippi, or Ohio for that matter, Ohio has very active KKK memberships throughout the state.

However, I am surprised and, strangely enough, pleased to see the support he is getting from whites who see that change from the tired old Clinton politics is direly needed.
I am proud to see that Blacks in Mississippi turned out to vote. Mississippi is still a very dangerous place to live and voting is still today in 2008 a dangerous thing to do in a state where the soil is stained from the blood of hundreds of thousands of Blacks lynched and murdered by racists who believe for some crazy reason that this country belongs only to white America. This is at the root of Bill Clinton's "give me a break" and the Ferraro comments. What is all the fuss about, they wonder! The fuss is about 300 years of racism and oppression, being denied the RIGHT to vote; the murder, the lynchings, the hangings. In 1998 James Byrd, 49, was dragged to his death behind a truck driven by whites in Jasper, Texas. This is why Blacks are voting, not "against" whites, but to end this ongoing deadly racism which engulfs this country and which threatens the very life of every nonwhite in the nation. Blacks aren't voting for Obama because he is Black - but because they feel maybe, just maybe, he can bring about change, real change that will end the killing, end the murder, and end the discrimination.

I remember Emmett Till. I remember James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, three freedom riders found murdered in Mississippi and the murder of Medgar Evers; I remember the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and Fannie Lou Hamer and the struggle to be seated at the National Democratic Convention; and George Wallace and Gov Falbus of Arkansas. I remember the voting rights act of 1965 (which Hilliary Clinton says would not have happened without President Johnson) and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Obama doesn't speak as a Black man. He speaks as an American. Chris Matthews of Hardball said something which I thought was amusing. He said that whites are voting for Obama because he has a "white" mother. I think many whites might find comfort in that fact. However, I think if whites were honest and they examined the record, Obama is perhaps the most competent, experienced and qualified candidate to ever run for political office in the United States in many years. For many Blacks he reminds them of John F. Kennedy and the promise of Kennedy. For many Blacks and whites alike Obama brings hope where there is none. He brings with him an air of integrity which is refreshing, and it is this quality that people, all Americans, can believe in.

vsessoms

Don't speak . . . or the pompous PC police will come and get you. Obama will be about as successful as George McGovern

Ferraro's ancestors were put in the same class as Negroes when they came to this country...shouldn't she know better?

Don't speak . . . or the pompous PC police will come and get you. Obama will be about as successful as George McGovern

Amazd wrote: "When Obama gets 90% of the Black vote, it seems hard for him to claim that race is not a factor. It seems that the contest has come down to Blacks and White elites versus middle class and working class Whites. Ferraro made the terrible mistake of saying what everybody else thinks." -- No one claims that race might not be a factor in one's vote decision. But Ferraro implied that Obama's lead was the result of Affirmative Action - insulting to believe that more than half of the voters (including whites) voted for him only to satisfy some quota (some quota in our minds)!! She knew very well how absurd that argument was. Her only intent was to stir up the flame of racism. That appears to be the only way Clinton can win in Penn.

If Clinton wins the primary thru race baiting (south carolina, Ferraro, etc.) and voter suppression tactics (Nevada), how does she expect to win the general? Would black voters be able to come back to her after such a shameful primary campaign, in which racism was used to court white votes? And if large numbers of them don't, can she win?

I hope everyone had a chance to see Keith Oberman's comment tonight on MSNBC. It was dead on!

Ferraro is just another dumb blonde. It's just a statement of fact. How's that?!

It is so bitterly ironic that women continue to vote for Hillary. This is the wife who enabled her husband to commit perjury against a woman. She enabled and supported her husband in his abuse of power to prevent abused and harassed women from exercising their rights to sue for justice. She allowed innocent women to be vilified and tarnished by the media. She was his accomplice! It is simply tragic that women continue to support this dysfunctional and destructive couple. They have done more insult and injury to women than practically any pair in US history. How you can continue to forgive and forget these misdeeds is beyond all logic and reason.

On Super Tuesday II last week, women comprised 59 percent of the electorate in Ohio, a seven percentage point increase over 2004, and in Texas, women made up 57 percent of the electorate, a four point rise over four years ago.so i wonder...how in the hell do you people think hillary clinton got where she is...partly because shes the wife of one of the most popular presidents in this decade..Bill Clinton..and because she is a WOMAN ! which is not negative at all...nor is it negative to be a black man...but to suggest that to be a black man named barack hussein obama running for the presidency of this united states of america is an advantadge is just not true.

Obama is benefitting from being black? Hmmmm, isn't that what 'affirmative action' is? So, if people in the Clinton campaign are complaining about that, does that mean they're against affirmative action? Or, are they only against it when it affects them?

One wonders if people take time to ponder over speech notes. Words that appear to be brilliant and earth shattering at the time of composition can be, when actually spoken, disastrous. How unfortunate for her that the brain did not sense the avalanche the tongue would create and eventually bury her.
However she is not the first with a tongue that works faster than the brain and she definitely will not be the last.

work2play,

Please, get some professional help.

Only women tell the truth?

Do you think you help Mrs. Clinton when you say stuff like this on the Internet?

Ms. Ferraro spoke the truth and the American public, especially Obama Kool Aid drinkers, cried racism.

There's a smidgeon of reverse racism at play here in Obama's tack, and there are some whites who gain a weird sense of absolution for decades of slavery by voting for Obama. Obama has cleverly exploited that racism and continues to look for ways to play the racism card all the way to November. It's politics at its worse...It's Obama politics.

Some Obama cultist out here claimed that he won Texas. What? Last I looked, he finished tens of thousands of votes behind. If it were not for organized pep fests called "caucuses," he wouldn't even be in the race.

In primary states, Senator Clinton has won states worth 260 electoral votes...big states, states Dems need in November. Save for Illinois and a squeaker win in Missouri, Obama has had his arse handed to him by Clinton in electoral-rich states. Obama's electoral primary count isn't even 200 yet.

No wonder the Obama supporters are begging Clinton to quit. With the Rezko trial heating up and Obama prepping to get whipped again in Pennsylvania, Hillary is the candidate with all the real delegate strength behind her. (I know, Pennsylvania is not a sparkling Wyoming or Utah caucus but it's the best Hillary can do).

I am glad that Geraldine Ferraro bowed out. Her comments were hard to believe. In the last week, we've had one Obama advisor walk the plank, and now a Clinton supporter has followed suit. This is great entertainment for the Republicans. It's time to get both campaigns on course for a hard campaign over the next few months of primaries. This won't be over until June at the earliest. Hard campaign should not imply a win at any costs campaign, a bend the rules campaign, or a scorched earth campaign. If we lose in November, it will be a terrible loss for America. I want my candidate to win - I have friends (and children) who are just as passionate about the other candidate. We don't call each other names and we respect each other's opinions. Can't the Democratic Party take a step back and avoid a fisticuff that hands the White House to Senator McCain?

I for one support BHO in spite of rather than because of his race. Perhaps that is even worse than what Ferraro uttered, but it is my truth.

"

When Obama gets 90% of the Black vote, it seems hard for him to claim that race is not a factor. It seems that the contest has come down to Blacks and White elites versus middle class and working class Whites. Ferraro made the terrible mistake of saying what everybody else thinks.

Posted by: amazd | March 12, 2008 07:26 PM

Just so I am clear: WHEN 90% of WHITE AMERICANS vote for a WHITE MAN, irrespective of who is running, are they RACIST?

Be a racist white person, but don't be a DUMB racist white person - that's NOT ALLOWED!

Obama has a very carefully crafted image.

Its about as far from reality as can be imagined.

The real Obama is cold, calculating, and manipulative.

He only cares about himself.

The real Obama let the people who elected him state senator suffer and die in Slums that he funneled $100M of Government money to his friend Rezko to repair, but were never even touched.

That's the real Obama.

He's arrogant, incompetent, and only cares about himself.

His carefully crafted image is as fake as Bush's was.

Will America make the same mistake again?

For all our sakes, I hope not.

...so it's obama's fault that bill ticked off black voters ? b/c if bill played it straight and narrow they would have split the black vote 50/50-- and her explanation, which could be true, just shows how convoluted her thought process is. but I guess that's why she and fritz won 1 state (barley) in 84.

I agree with chersplace. If Obama were a white man and given his qualifications, he would have a longer shot in the nomination than Kucinich or Gravel.

Let's not kid ourselves here. No wonder, McCain is smiling more these days.

You can twist the meaning of what Geraldine Ferraro said, but the fact remains that the blacks vote along color line. Obama will more likely win in this primary contest because, putting right then and there even before the start; a solid vote of 30% to 40% of black votes, plus votes from whites who no longer have the racial tendency to vote for a white candidate, as shown by the primary results, being that almost half of whites are voting for a black candidate, makes it almost insurmountable odd unless countervailed by the Latino votes, who obviously vote on on issues and not by the color of their skin.

Gerry' right, but not for the reason she thinks. Obama is only in this position because he is African American. If were were a handsome, young, brilliant, inspirational and visionary white senator from a large mid-western state he would have sewn up the nomination months ago. What the Clinton camp is doing is truly insidious - they are playing on the fears of working class American who resent affirmative action and feel that progress for minorities comes only at their expense. Sadly, she may win the nomination but it will be a pyrrhic victory as the Archie Bunker voters that put her over the top in Ohio will flock to McCain in November.

But the Clintons will always put their personal ambition over the interest of the people. Eliot Spitzer did the right thing today by resigning; he did break the law. As bogus as the Clinton impeachment proceedings were, had Clinton resigned ten years ago, Al Gore would have become president and would have won re-election; there would have been no war in Iraq, no 4300 Americans dead, tens of thousands wounded, hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, and a three trillion dollar war and legacy of debt that we leave to our children.

super delegate soon to be former ny gov and now the ferraro spat it would look like hil might be having a not so good day and add on the beating she took in Miss it looks like bill will have to pull her out of the fire one more time.

Good riddance Geraldine.
But my greatest concern is that the American people does not need a commander in chief whose spouse is a serial philanderer.
When the phone rings at 3:00am, I don't want my US President to be worried whether her spouse is in Spitzer's Washington Hotel suite with "Kristen" or in the Oval Office with some intern.
Hillary's "experience" in the White House as a "wronged woman" and her foreseeable experience as the other woman in any future White House, disentitles her from the Presidency.
Good riddance, Hil and Bill.
We don't need that horn dog and his enabling spouse in our White House.

Ferraro did the right thing. Her comments were wrong-headed and irresponsibly spoken. Similar comments could be made about Hilary Clinton, Ms. Ferraro MUST surely know.

The good thing about the comments is they demonstrate how the speaker thinks. The way I feel about them is "Now I know" how this woman thinks. It's a good thing she never got to serve as VP with such a flawed thinking model.

Maybe Ferraro's comment was intended to be a simple observation - but it certainly did not come out that way! Then, to make matters worse, she went on GMA this morning and was rude,abrasive and totally difficult.
I am a 60-ish white woman and I fully empathize with complaints by Ferraro and Clinton that what they say and the way they say it are hyper-scrutinized...but it would have been MUCH better for her to just say "I misspoke".

Why are YOU not covering ALL OF HER COMMENTS???
I am so glad Geraldine Ferraro is sticking to her comments as NOT being racist!!!! Hillary should ask her to be VP. Why can someone hold up a sign at a CLINTON RALLY STATING "IRON MY SHIRTS?" THE MEDIA IS IGNORING THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of her comments that a 3 year junior senator (who campaigned for 2 1/2 years for president) that was an asian, black, hispanic, or white woman would never be able to get as far as OBAMA did.

Americans are stupid.

Any of you people recall the loud mouth, cross dressing weirdo Dennis Rodman bad mouthing Larry Bird by saying that he only gets attention because he is white??? I realy wish(to no avail)that the media would ignore these loudmouth idiots. Ken

OBAMBI IS GETTING OVER 90% OF THE BLACK VOTE. IF THAT IS NOT BLATANT AND OPEN RACISM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS. AND HIS CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN VERY SLY TO TO PAINT AS RACIST NON BLACKS WHO CALL THIS OUT. MONKEY FACE IS NOT GETTING MY VOTE.

I find the move of the Clinton's campaign very clever. With this move they made a big argument about race, they are waking up racism, they are playing on that looking for using it advantageously in Pennsylvania. It is a clever move. You already see people raging up to tell "Why did she resign? If it is the plain truth". These people will ignore arguments, programs and personalities of the candidates, to go against the black Obama.
It is such a shame to play on waking up racism for your interest Sen. Clinton, why can't you show a bit of dignity.
Now it would be clever to let this argument fall, try to sleep it down and really try to change for a world where skin and gender are no use to judge people.
No further comment on that would be the most useful answer, I believe.

Sorry, but she was right, and Hillary wouldn't be there if it were not for her so called husband the predator. Ferraro's comments wouldn't even be noticed if it were not for the sick political correctness thought control that the democrats have inflicted on our society.
Actually, Ferraro left out the fact that Old ears is the consummate affirmative action candidate, barely elegible and certainly far from the best qualified. Of course Hillary is too.

G0 DogBitz!!! I couldn't agree more. The parallelism is scary. Bush wouldn't have stood a chance in hell of being elected to anything if not for his family ties. Hillary....the same.

See a pattern. Soon, the only one left in the democratic party will be Obama and a few followers. Or, the party will cease to exist. I am outta here after this primary.

Good comments bluedogva!

To jak2... Obama has more delegates because he has more politically active supporters in states that Democrats will not carry in November. Obama is winning because he is a black man, and as many as 90% of the black voters would vote for him. (Or is this racist?) Ever wonder why he does not get as much support from other ethnic groups? I am sure it is not about race.

Obama supporters don't care how many people suffered and died in Obama's slums.

All they care about is winning.

I guess its just a big game to them.

CPCook

You are missing the point. It is not whether he is benefiting from strong support in the African American community that makes her comment racist - and I don't really like using that word because its meaning is interpreted in so many different ways. Her comments are viewed as racist because she said it was 'the' reason he was winning. To say that his race matters more than his education, oratorical abilities, philosophy, employment, message, etc. is unreasonable. You may not agree that the quality of these things merit his being president, but it is unacceptable to make him one dimensional - a color.

Bill Clinton came close to 90% by the way.

No one is calling the analyst and reports who report (i.e., repeatedly state) the level of African American support racist. As someone who has been in the public so many years, Ferraro should be able to clearly state a message that said he was winning in some states because of the level of African American support. She should have been able to say it in a way that didn't give the message about the other characteristics not mattering.

I voted for that witch back in 1984. Shame on me. What a shameless women. Are we all sure she is a democrat?

I have several times posted the comment: "If Obama were White, he'd be Evan Bayh." Apparently this is an inappropriate comment, since it has been repeatedly rejected by the Post.

Geraldine Ferraro is not a racist. She stated a fact. If Barrack Obama was a young white senator with as thin a resume as he has he would not have been backed as a presidential candidate. When he went to Kennedy and Daschle and asked if he should run they told him that right now since he was so green and had no record in the senate to call him on he should do it. Daschle said "I told him that he has a window to do this. He should never count on that window staying open."

The Obama campaign are masters of misdirection and playing the race card.
Everytime someone says anything they don't like they say it is the kitchen sink or they play the race card. They want this to be in the media. I am not a racist but I do believe that Barrack Obama is.

Unfortunately Geraldine Ferraro was not bright enough to keep her mouth shut when there was a chance to be of use to Hillary. With friends like this, who needs enemies?

Ferraro is a moron. She was the biggest token candidate ever on a ticket that got crushed by Ronald Reagan. Why would anyone listen to what this incidental nobody has to say?

Don't speak . . . or the pompous PC police will come and get you. Obama will be about as successful as George McGovern

To thecrisis. I have to say that you have said it all. As a black male in washington dc I have seen political races go the way of who is black and who is white not who is best for the job. Personally I am not one of them. I am a rarity here in DC. I am an idependent voter. I backed McCain in his first bid and Carrol Swartz (R) here in DC. I believe in the person that seems to be right for the job.
I did not vote for Obama because he is black. I voted for him because he is right for the job. I have been to a few of his rallies in other states and see that there actually split on colors and ages in the crowd. Unfortunately the Clinton campaign has not seen what Russ, Ann and Hinniton have seen. More of the right have been seeing in Obama that they don't see anywhere else. A person that is above the fray and not mixed in the political mainstream that is the washington political circle.

Geraldine Ferraro is the only politician in American history to claim that being black has been an advantage in the race for president.

Considering we are now getting only the third black GOVERNOR since reconstruction in New York, its a pretty bold statement to make that Obama is coasting on his black advantage to the nomination.

Wake up! If anything, Obama has faced 10 times the hurdles as Hillary or any other candidate. First it was "Is America ready for a black president?" then "Is Obama black enough for the black community?" Then "will whites vote for him, too?"

Obama doesn't need affirmative action. HE'S WINNING. Why? Because he is who he is. You need crossover appeal to all races, genders, etc., to get ahead in nomination process. And Obama has it because he is smart, ethical and talented. Period.

You have to remember that Ferraro is a product of the old school back room political machine. She admits that she was picked because she was a woman. And it turned out to be a very bad pick.

In the vetting they missed that her parents had been under federal criminal indictment for gambling; the charges were dropped when her father died. Then there is her husband, who refused to release his tax returns when she ran for VP. He was linked to the Mob.

In fact her only political wins were the three terms before she lost in one of the worse races in my life time. Then she lost two more here in NY before becoming a foot note.

Now she works for Fox (Faux) News. Nice ending to a meaningless career.

To whistling.... your logic is baffling. I bet you voted for Obama too.

Obama isn't winning because he's black . He's winning because people want something different from the democratic party than these old school, lobbyist funded, scandal-ridden, divisive, corrupt politicians. Obama may win the nomination or he may not - but make no mistake, people are getting sick of what the Democratic party has offered in the past. Stick with folks like Ferraro, Clinton, Rendell, and Corzine, and say goodbye to the next generation of voters. The Democratic party needs to change, or risk insignificance in the long run. Thanks for listening.

I'll be so glad when the primaries & conventions are over! I'll vote for the Democratic nominee, mainly as an anti-Republican gesture, but not because I give a fig about the race or gender of their candidate!

If Obama weren't black, he wouldnt be where he is today. He is winning on every front, delegates, popular vote & states, yet Hillary is being talked about as having some kind of claim over him. This could only happen to a black man. Change the rules when the black guy starts winning. Cause hatred and resentment on both sides. It is so clintonesque. What white man would stand for the rules being changed in the middle of a race? Why all the clamoring to change the rules so Hillary can get Fl and Mi votes. What is going on???

Amazd wrote: "When Obama gets 90% of the Black vote, it seems hard for him to claim that race is not a factor. It seems that the contest has come down to Blacks and White elites versus middle class and working class Whites. Ferraro made the terrible mistake of saying what everybody else thinks." -- No one claims that race might not be a factor in one's vote decision. But Ferraro implied that Obama's lead was the result of Affirmative Action - insulting to believe that more than half of the voters (including whites) voted for him only to satisfy some quota (some quota in our minds)!! She knew very well how absurd that argument was. Her only intent was to stir up the flame of racism. That appears to be the only way Clinton can win in Penn.

As Jack Nickelson said in "A Few Good Men" you can't handle the truth!

Ms. Ferraro spoke the truth!

Those who deny it are liars, hypocrites or totally stupid. The only people who don't know Ms. Ferraro spoke the truth had to have just arrived from Planet 9 in outerspace.

Is the Obama camp playing the race card over it? Does the sun rise in the east? Is the North Pole cold? And so on and so on...

Fire away fools, liars and hypocrites!

I am not a white person, and yet I see what Ferraro is saying. If I may add she is correct.

I am uncertain if I am sadder that Ferraro is being trashed to state what everybody can see or that people has a convoluted sense of what is racist. It seems that any unflattering observation is deemed racist. Fortunately, Ferraro may be gone but her observation remains valid. If Obama were white, he would not get 90% of the black votes in Mississippi. It is called ethnic pride, and there is nothing wrong with it.

BTW, would it be racist to state that Asians have a tougher hurdle to go to the top universities?

With her dirty, demeaning, divisive tactics, Hillary Clinton (with the help of her henchmen-and-women) is working to ensure there will be a President McCain this fall.

Shame on you Sen. Clinton!

The Clintons are going to ruin the Democratic party with all their crap. All the race baiting is only going to chase black voters away from the party. No Democratic can win without strong black support. It's time for the super delegates to end this race and get the Clintons packing before the Democratic party is set back for many years to come.

Hooray for Geraldine. It is about time some one stood up for free speech and honesty in there remarks.

The media seem to be tongue tied and walking on eggs afraid to say even the most obvious things.

I think she is right and Obama is receiving support that the other candidates did not get.

Racism or Affinityism - that's the question. Racism reflects historical prejudice agaisnt a group based on race. Affinityism is the tendency of people to favor those with whom they share an affinity - i.e. Va Tech grads feel an affinity (and therefor perhaps sometimes, all else equal) will favor a fellow Va. tech grad (e.g. same for fraternities, religous denomination, shared hobby or interest). There is no doubt that African American's are voting overwhelmingly for Obama - but its not because of prejudice against whites, its more the shared affinity with Obama - which happens to be race. Is this bad? Its not as bad as racism, and perhaps H. Clinton gets the benefit of affinityism from other women, other Wellesley grads, other Yale law grads, but its not the most logical reason for voting for a candidate. Yet all else being the same (and both share many views/values, both are highly educated and capable), its the reason Obama draws heavy black support, and Hillary other female support. Heck, if both were white males, butone was from Virginia, the other from California, I'd probably opt for the Virginian just because I'm from Virginia. Ferraro would have been better to discuss both affinityisms together, then argue that all voters (who otherwise feel, as I do, that the candidates have very similar positions) the cast aside affinityism feelings and vote for whom they though had the best chance to win in November.

RE:Chris Matthews implied that Hillary won her Senate seat because of Bill's indiscretions ...

Amd they made him apologize because he only said what everyone is thinking. Hillary wants to pretend she is a self made women when all her experience is cribbed from Bill.

If Hillary were a man playing these games, she would be toast by now. But she is Hillary and she'll drag all of us into the mud with her

We just have a hard time believing truth. It is true that unless you work for the Clinton campaign, if you are a black person, you are voting for Obama, with few exceptions. What is wrong with that truth. No one is saying that he is not eligible to be comander-in-chief, which he isn't, she has just stated what is TRUE 101. Live with it, if you can't deal with it, that's your problem and you'll need to deal with it. If I could get every White or Hispanic person to support Hillary, I would and I wouldn't care that they were labeled racist. This is a race to win votes and if I can talk my language to my people to vote for me and win that way, more power to me.

People are so sensitive about race, when this entire country is based on what race you are, from housing, to health, employment, and so on... Obama IS WHERE HE IS BECAUSE HE IS A BLACK MAN. SO WHAT. Hillary will still win because she is the better of the two candidate, not because she is a woman, which she is or any other factor, except, of course, for being the wife of one of the best living minds on earth. ALELUYAH!

There is no place for Politically incorrect people in this Nation. We must never let the truth override or political correctness!

To: amazd

Race is a factor. The problem is that Ferraro said it is an advantage. Also, Obama hasn't received 90% of the African American vote cumulatively (in fact as far as I can tell the only state with that margin is Mississippi). So being African American may be an advantage with African Americans, but it is a disadvantage with a lot of other racial and ethnic groups who collectively outnumber African Americans. Bottom line, considering the advantage with one group and the disadvantage with the other groups, this so called reason for success doesn't pass muster. Further, to pit women vs. African Americans as she did in her comment doesn't help anyone.

OOOK

IF good old Gerry should'nt be fired for "telling the truth"

THEN how about the woman was made to quit because she called Hillary a MONSTER?

Hillary, in the considered opinion of many, may of us, IS a monster.
Goose and gander, children, goose and gander.

The fact that Hillary didn't even ask Ferraro to step down proves that: 1) Hillary is a hypocrite