The Liberal Avenger
Geraldine Ferraro defended her recent comments about Obama’s candidacy by saying this:
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 used to represent Archie Bunker’s district, and she certainly seems to share his views on race. But the way she’s expressing those views makes me think that she’s as dumb as Edith.
Andrew Sullivan says that Clinton campaign’s handling of the situation is calculated to keep the “Obama is a quota hire” meme afloat:
The Clinton campaign’s decision not to reject or denounce Geraldine Ferraro’s racial gaffe strikes me as a conscious and deliberate one. The Obama campaign saw Samantha Power resign for a less offensive remark. But Ferraro is now on the networks and airwaves amping up the volume, and Clinton, in classic passive-aggressive mode, is merely “disagreeing.” Isn’t this obviously about Pennsylvania? Isn’t this classic Rove-Morris politics - to keep designating Obama a beneficiary of affirmative action and Clinton a victimized white woman in order to racially polarize a primary where Clinton needs white ethnic votes?
Ferraro’s original gaffe was an accident. The compounding of it is a strategy.
Frank James points out that in 1988, Ferraro joined Ronald Reagan in denouncing Jesse Jackson as a black candidate who got a free ride from the press on account of his race.
Meanwhile, professional racist Jonathan Kay of Canada’s National Post says that he’s thrilled to see that someone is saying out loud what he’s been thinking all along.
