Geraldine Ferraro’s comments are getting quite a bit of attention because many say she went “over the line”. The line in question is the following:
"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."
There are two elements to the story. The outrage element is getting all the attention but there’s another element here too. Is Obama’s race a factor in his appeal? You may not be comfortable with the question but it is worth asking. There’s no doubt that his appeal is broad. The numbers back that up but the numbers also show a huge turnout among African-Americans in this country. In addition, there is a history making element here as well since Obama would be the first African-American President. Is that part of the equation for you or not?
Leave your comments here and I’ll post them. Below is the latest on the story from The Associated Press:
Ferraro countered Wednesday that her remarks were not racist and had been taken out of context.
The back-and-forth between the two Democrat trailblazers — Obama, seeking to be the nation's first black president, and Ferraro, who was the first woman on a major party presidential ticket — continued for a second day as they made appearances on network and cable morning news programs.
"Part of what I think Geraldine Ferraro is doing, and I respect the fact that she was a trailblazer, is to participate in the kind of slice and dice politics that's about race and about gender and about this and that, and that's what Americans are tired of because they recognize that when we divide ourselves in that way we can't solve problems," Obama said on NBC's "Today" show.
Ferraro — a supporter and fundraiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton — said that Obama's campaign had taken her remarks out of context and that she was merely commenting on the historic nature of his candidacy.
"I was talking about historic candidacies and what I started off by saying (was that) if you go back to 1984 and look at my historic candidacy, which I had just talked about all these things, in 1984 if my name was Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would have never been chosen as a vice presidential candidate," Ferraro said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "It had nothing to do with my qualification."