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BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism
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Subject: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: SINSULL Date: 12 Mar 08 - 12:39 PM Ferraro said "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is." but insists this is not racist. If Obama loses and says it is because Clinton is white and a woman, would that not be racist and sexist? This is the same woman who ran for vice-president, submitted her required financial info and when it came out that her husband was involved in some questionable handling of funds belonging to elderly clients claimed that she didn't read the tax returns before she signed them. This is also the woman who first threatened reporters who reported on her son's arrest for drug dealing and then threatened another who took a picture of her drinking Diet Coke while her Pepsi commercials were airing. She single-handedly set the woman's movement back 20 years. And now she's back... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Richard Bridge Date: 12 Mar 08 - 12:46 PM Well, let's be honest, all the voter splits I have seen show more African-American voters voting for Obama than for any other democratic candidate. And as I read it a huge amount of the opposition to Billary seems to be sexist, so would Obama have overcome that difficulty if he were female? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Riginslinger Date: 12 Mar 08 - 12:46 PM And she's back just in time. It looks to me like everything she says about Obama is true. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Mrrzy Date: 12 Mar 08 - 01:13 PM There is no way a first-time senator who's not even out of their 40's could make such a believable run for the presidency if he were white. Not so sure about female, but certainly not if he were white. She is absolutely right, this was said a long time ago, before it even became a believable run... nothing wrong with stating the truth about a racial issue. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Barry Finn Date: 12 Mar 08 - 01:23 PM Jack Kennedy? Barry |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: GUEST,mg Date: 12 Mar 08 - 01:26 PM If we are, as I fear we are, raising people who in their 40s can't take command of a country, we are in terrible shape. The man is well into middle age, old enough to be a general in the army, a grandfather, head of a huge company etc. He'll be 50 in a couple of years for heaven's sake. I would guess that not more than 25% of the opposition to Clinton is because of her gender. Most of it is because of her character and her baggage and her unpleasant screechy voice has to account for some. mg |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Jack the Sailor Date: 12 Mar 08 - 01:30 PM Yes. Obama has got this far because he is black. He the most recent member of a very long parade who have got this far in the nomination process because they were black. Obama said that Ferarro's words were absurd. He was right. This says a lot more about Mr. Clinton than it does about Mrs. Ferarro. Obama sacked Samantha powers for saying much less. McCain distanced himself from Cunningham for less. On the other hand Mrs. Clinton used Ferarro's words as a jumping off point for an attack on Obama. Then she got her campaign manager to pile on the attack. All very ironic, considering that Mrs. Clinton would not even have made it even to the Senate without the name recognition from her husband. She has been luckier than Mr. Obama. It is certain that race is one of the reasons Obama got noticed in the first place. But that did not win him any primaries. In their turn Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton and Alan Keys were noticed. They were African American but were never leaders in the nomination process. On the other hand, Bill Richardson is native American. John Edwards was raised by a mill worker, Al Gore's Dad was a Senator And John Kerry happened to win five medals in Viet Nam. Were all lucky? Are we supposed to believe that only Hillary and Geraldine got where they are on merit? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Peace Date: 12 Mar 08 - 01:31 PM When ya tell half the electorate that you are concerned about only the other half, chances are ya might be missin' a few votes. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Amos Date: 12 Mar 08 - 01:32 PM With all due respect, this is pure-dee hallucination. Kennedy was in his forties when he set the Senate back on their heels when they chose to interrogate him about the role of Catholicism in his candidacy. ANd if you look back into earlier centuries you will find several others. There is absolutely no evidence for the proposition that given his age his color has been key in enabling his success. If his abilities had surfaced in a 42 year old white man they would have had similar consequences, I aver. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Riginslinger Date: 12 Mar 08 - 02:39 PM "Obama sacked Samantha powers for saying much less..." What Powers said was stupid, what Ferraro said was factual. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: catspaw49 Date: 12 Mar 08 - 02:41 PM AND......Jack Kennedy lost that election had he not taken his chief opposition on board on the ticket. Lyndon Johnson was the difference in a very close election. Nixon was probably a bit less popular than McCain but the similarity here should not be overlooked. IIRC Johnson was favored going into the convention and then Old Joe took charge. Yeah, I know............yadayadyadyada............I know there are dissimilarities as well.....But don't allow my admission of that to stop some of you from spinning your asses off......LOL.........Enjoy! Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: KB in Iowa Date: 12 Mar 08 - 02:46 PM Being black has long been a ticket to the White House. It has been more than seven years since the last non-black president took office. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 12 Mar 08 - 02:54 PM OOPs: ack Kennedy and Bill Clinton were both younger than Obama, who is 46 (born 1961). (Teddy Roosevelt was only 42 - but he only got in because he was vice-president when MacKinley was shot dead, so maybe that doesn't count). Does anyone believe Hillary would have been where she is if she hadn't been the wife of a President? How would she ever have got to be elected Senator in New York? Being black has probably got Obama some votes that might otherwise have gone to Clinton, especially since Bill Clinton has alienated a lot of black voters by seeming to play the racist card, but it's probably lost him a good few votes as well. Both from people with semi-submerged racist tendencies, but also from pragmatic non-racists who have decided that Americans are too racist to elect a black man. If we're allowed to fantasize about colour and gender changes, I think that a black female Obama would be doing even better. As for a black male Hillary Clinton... It doesn't bear thinking about. Post - Top - Forum Home - Printer Friendly - Translate |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Mar 08 - 02:56 PM It appears that Ferraro spoke out of turn, but I need to look into this more before I decide about this gaff. Last night I heard an interview of Gloria Steinem by Farai Chideya on News and Notes. I don't know if the Ferraro quote is taken out of the context of a feminist meeting that Steinem spoke of. It is a disservice to all if that was the case. Like the Pope quoting the biases of 14th century Muslim clerics in a scholarly paper presentation last year and being pounced on for even uttering the words, even in the context of showing how far things have come. It's absurd, what people do when they choose to misrepresent others by taking remarks away from their logical context. And sometimes, it's a case of 'with a friend like that, who needs enemies.' SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Little Hawk Date: 12 Mar 08 - 02:58 PM Every candidate is probably "lucky" in some sense or another. So what? Obama's also lucky that he isn't ugly, doesn't have a speech impediment, doesn't have a high squeaky voice, and isn't a Jehovah's Witness. So what? Every case is unique. Some people are superficially quite electable. Other people would never even be given the chance (regardless of their real abilities and strengths to govern). So just take the candidate on his or her own own merits. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: wysiwyg Date: 12 Mar 08 - 03:39 PM She may be one of those people who knows what she means in her head, but on the way out of her neck the words and thoughts run into a big ole size 12 foot, especially on ocasions when she should not be opining publicly. And maybe there is a wider context for her thoughts, in which that unfortunate event occurred. BUT-- by this point in every 4-year cycle, I always feel that the best "explanation" for whatever I hear on the news is that the news-manipulators are hard at work. I try to decline to give them too much access to my mind. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: GUEST,JTS Date: 12 Mar 08 - 04:07 PM Ms. Ferraro says she was taken out of context and that what she said was not racist. She said, among other things, that Obama would not be where he is if he wasn't black. How anyone could call that anything other than racist is beyond me. How anyone could call that a "fact" is also beyond me. It is true that if Mr. Obama were not black he would not be Mr. Obama therefor would not be where he is today. But then again, its kind of a moot point. Isn't it. Certainly calling Mrs. Clinton a "monster" while deploring her tactics is not a "fact" it was certainly an honest depiction. The difference between the two statements was the candidates' reaction. Mr. Obama said there was no place for such talk in his campaign. Mrs. Clinton attacked decorum and Democratic Party solidarity like Godzilla on Tokyo and tried to make it seem as Mr. Obama had made the remarks. Obama isn't there because he is Black. He is where he is today because he is turning his back on the old-fashioned Clinto-Bush politics. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Riginslinger Date: 12 Mar 08 - 04:42 PM It seems to me like he is promoting the same old Clinto-Bush politics, but he's black so it appears to be different. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Little Hawk Date: 12 Mar 08 - 04:56 PM The Clintons have long had enormous support from the Black community in America, Bill being known as "the first Black president" and all. ;-) They could definitely count on getting the lion's share of Black votes. The only thing that could possibly have derailed their expectations in that regard was a charismatic and very popular Black nominee for the Democrats who actually looked like he might have a chance of winning.... And that's what they got with Obama. WHAM! Checkmate to the Clintons' counting on the Black vote to line up solidly behind Hillary Clinton no matter what. No wonder they are a bit ticked off about it... ;-) It's the only conceivable thing that could have lost Hillary the great majority of Black voters. This may have been what Ms Ferraro was trying to say, but to say it, of course, is to walk straight across a PR and media minefield. You cannot say such a thing publicly without being called a racist, whether you really are one or not. Whether she is one or not...I have no idea, but most people are at least slightly racist (if secretly and subliminally) at some level of their being. They are not completely non-reactive to race. They have some degree of prejudice, whether passive or active. I guess when that level of prejudice passes a certain threshold and becomes quite overt in their actions, then you can really SAY that they are racist with some justice, can't you? Otherwise....you may be merely speculating, you may be grandstanding, you may be covering up for your own hidden imperfections, or you may be engaging in outright slander of another human being. It's not a label that should be thrown around carelessly or opportunistically, just because of whatever political axe you have to grind. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Peace Date: 12 Mar 08 - 05:20 PM My GAWD. Obama's Black? Yeah, right, like tell me NOW! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Amos Date: 12 Mar 08 - 05:22 PM Rig: Look a little harder, mate. The differences will soon appear. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Riginslinger Date: 12 Mar 08 - 05:25 PM "This may have been what Ms Ferraro was trying to say, but to say it, of course, is to walk straight across a PR and media minefield..." LH - I think this is really the point she was trying to make. No matter what one might think about the situation, one can't speak of it. And she proved herself to be right. It took a certain amount of courage to do that. In her case, though, I think what was really driving her was, she thought we finally had a chance to elect a woman president, and it was all being screwed up by some up-start black guy. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Peace Date: 12 Mar 08 - 05:27 PM My GAWD. Hillary's a woman? Yeah, right, like tell me NOW! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Stilly River Sage Date: 12 Mar 08 - 05:32 PM NPR (All Things Considered) is playing an interesting discussion/analysis of the Ferraro gaffe now; it will replay in the next couple of hours, and be available online. It sounds like Geraldine has re-written her SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Little Hawk Date: 12 Mar 08 - 05:32 PM Either of those possibilities you raise is quite plausible, Rinslinger. And the second point sounds right on the mark to me, as to why she would have been particularly annoyed about Obama's candidacy at this time. She would see him as "killing the goose that laid the golden egg"...the first female presidency. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: catspaw49 Date: 12 Mar 08 - 05:35 PM Lemmee ask you Hawk.......If I say I'd prefer Hillary because something about Obama bothers me, how many readers do ya' figure are thinking "closet racist." I agree with you that we are all racist to some degree.......I couldn't agree more actually. Matter of fact I said something like that on another thread a week or so back.......Anyway, my history shows I am at least at the bottom of the scale. But I'll betcha' dollars to donuts (Canadian all if you choose) that over half of the people reading this are thinking what I said. This reminds me of a guy Karen's sister was dating in high school. She lived with us for her final few years of school and when she started dating this guy we invited him over of course............turned out to be a total and complete jerk/asshole/supply your own term. We tried to be pleasant and all but when Heather came home that evening we told her what we thought and why as she DID ask. Needless to say she accused us of being thoughtless and even bigoted because he was a paraplegic in a wheelchair. Karen looked at her very directly and said, "That doesn't keep him from being a jerk.......his wheelchair doesn't mean he can be rude because he just feels like it." Obama bothers me for some reason. Perhaps its the non-specific gung-ho rhetoric............hell, I dunno'..........I'll vote for him definitely if he's the candidate and keep my fingers crossed he's better than Jimmy Carter. Like I keep saying, the system is in need of a revolution. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Deckman Date: 12 Mar 08 - 05:45 PM Don't you ALL have something better to do? This is ALL ABOUT SELLING TOOTHPASTE. (TV). I'm going to go outside now and plant my sweetpeas. That's at least a little useful. Bob |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: GUEST,JTS Date: 12 Mar 08 - 05:58 PM "he wouldn't be in this position if he wasn't black." implies that being black is an advantage. Isn't that is a patently absurd idea. Little Hawk has hit the nail on the head. Its not because he is black that he got 90 % of the black vote in Mississippi. It is because he is black AND he has a chance of winning. And why does he have a chance of winning? Because he is smart and articulate and what he is saying resonates with a lot of voters. It is also because his campaign is better organized than hers and he has many more young, talented volunteers. With her advantages, if Mrs. Clinton was as talented a politician as he, she would have the nomination by now. In fact if she were as talented as Obama, I believe that we'd all have health care by now. But Mrs. Clinton and George W. Bush have something in common. They both alienate about as many voters as they win over. Two weeks ago I would have supported either democratic candidate. Now, I can honestly say as many of my friends have to me. I'd prefer McCain over Mrs. William Jefferson Clinton. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Bobert Date: 12 Mar 08 - 06:19 PM Well, one thing is fir sure and it is that the McClintons are using up alot of what McWar's folks ammo on Obama... This is good for Obama... By the time he get nominated the McWar folks won't have anything new to throw at him... Thank you, Geraldine... Obama/Richardson or Obama/Warner '08 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: irishenglish Date: 12 Mar 08 - 06:32 PM Could all be a moot point-she has officially distanced herself from Clinton's campaign. I don't know quite what to call it, since she wasn't getting paid for her advisor role, but she is out. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Little Hawk Date: 12 Mar 08 - 06:33 PM Heh! Yeah, Spaw, I think you are right on the money in what you say (about the racism bit). Most people are far less than completely honest about themselves when it comes to that...they are too busy playing out their own squeaky-clean and righteous "good guy" act to ever notice the problem of prejudice in themselves as opposed to noticing it in someone else. And yes, the system is definitely in need of a revolution. It's a damned shame that you and I will not live long enough to see it. Bobert - You could be right about that "ammunition" getting all used up. We'll see. Jack - You'd rather vote for McCain than Clinton? Hmmm. Well, I don't know (shrug). I'm about equally disgusted with both of those big phony political parties at this point. I expect nothing worthwhile from either one of them. Still, I couldn't vote Republican. I couldn't stomach rewarding them for the last 8 years! ;-) On the other hand, why relieve them of the burden of carrying that stinking war on their backs for a bit longer? They deserve to be stuck with handling it. Hmmm... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Barry Finn Date: 12 Mar 08 - 06:58 PM Jack Kennedy's election was a close call???? Whats the defination of landslide then? Barry |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Peace Date: 12 Mar 08 - 07:03 PM "why relieve them of the burden of carrying that stinking war on their backs for a bit longer? They deserve to be stuck with handling it." I agree with the sentiment, BUT, it's kids coming home in body bags who are 'carrying that stinking war on their backs'. Maybe when these motherfuc--elected officials--start coming home in body bags the war will end real quick. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Richard Bridge Date: 12 Mar 08 - 07:05 PM Is it or is it not true that the polls show Obama having substantially more of the African-American vote than Billary? If it is true, than part at least of what Ferraro said was true. PC howling does not come into it. A fact is a fact. If it is a fact. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 12 Mar 08 - 07:05 PM The question isn't whether Ferraro is racist in her beliefs. She probably isn't, any more than Bill Clinton. But she pretty evidently decided to have a go at playing the racist car, as Bill Clinton did earlier. Anet trick. Diverting the criticism into the matter of whether she is personally racist is another neat trick. And totally irrelevant. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Little Hawk Date: 12 Mar 08 - 07:27 PM John Kennedy's election was a close call, Barry Finn, a very close call, and there were strong suggestions of vote laundering by the Democratic machine in Chicago. Kennedy may well have been elected by fraud. I'm not saying this because I liked Nixon better. I liked Kennedy WAY better than I did Nixon, and I'm glad that Nixon was not elected in 1960. Direct quote from Wickipedia on the 1960 election: "The electoral vote was the closest in any presidential election dating to 1916, and Kennedy's margin of victory in the popular vote is among the closest ever in American history. The 1960 election also remains a source of debate among some historians as to whether vote theft in selected states aided Kennedy's victory." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: John on the Sunset Coast Date: 12 Mar 08 - 07:33 PM Barry, in 1960, Kennedy won the popular vote over Nixon by 0.2%age points. He had less than 50% of the popular vote. So in that respect it was hardly a landslide. In the electoral college he won about 56% of the electoral votes, which seems substantial, but just a small popular vote swing in major states, could have changed that electoral count owing to the winner-take-all provisions. But why quibble? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Amos Date: 12 Mar 08 - 08:03 PM Obama bothers me for some reason. While I sympathize, Spaw, and I understand the "creak" that comes with contemplating change without complete specs, I have to add that Hillary bothers me for some reason also, only more so. A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Amos Date: 12 Mar 08 - 08:20 PM Geraldine Ferarro (Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press) Updated | 7:15 p.m. After a two-day firestorm, Geraldine Ferraro has quit Senator Hillary ClintonÕs finance committee, saying that Senator Barack ObamaÕs campaign was twisting her words to make her appear racist and that this was hurting Mrs. Clinton. ÒI am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign,Ó Ms. Ferraro wrote in a letter to Mrs. Clinton. ÒThe Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I wonÕt let that happen.Ó For the last two days, Ms. Ferraro has been sharply criticized for comments she made last week that suggested Mr. Obama had succeeded as far as he had because he was black. ÒIf Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position,Ó she told the Daily Breeze, a newspaper in Torrance, Calif. While critics, including Mr. Obama, pounced on her, a defiant Ms. Ferraro defended her remarks, saying they were accurate and not racist. She has said that she herself benefited from being a woman because otherwise, she would not have been the vice presidential nominee in 1984. But by mid-afternoon, she resigned from her membership on the finance committee. There was no immediate comment from the Clinton campaign, but officials said that Ms. Ferraro had decided to leave on her own. She clearly wants to continue to speak out and press her point, telling NBC News after her resignation: ÒThis is the last time the Obama campaign is going to be able to play this kind of race card. They should apologize to me for calling me a racist.Ó Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said the campaign had not twisted her words. ÒI find that notion to be completely ludicrous,Ó he said. Mrs. Clinton said yesterday that she ÒrejectedÓ Ms. FerraroÕs original comments. But questions persisted about why she had not denounced them more sharply and whether they actually worked to the Clinton campÕs advantage with white voters. On a conference call this afternoon with Clinton officials, before Ms. Ferraro stepped down, Andrea Mitchell of NBC News asked why Mrs. Clinton had not been more emphatic and if there hadnÕt been a pattern by the Clinton campaign of exploiting such remarks. Howard Wolfson, Mrs. ClintonÕs spokesman, replied that the campaign was Òcompletely unawareÓ of Mrs. FerraroÕs remarks before she made them. ÒWe did not in any way encourage them,Ó he said. He noted that when Mrs. Clinton responded to a question about the comments, she Òmade clear she disagreed with them and she rejected them.Ó Ms. Mitchell persisted, noting that in previous cases where people associated with both campaigns had made problematic remarks, the campaigns had taken aggressive action. Mr. Wolfson said that Mr. Obama had not always removed people from his campaign, citing the cases of David Geffen, the Hollywood mogul, and General Gen. Merrill A. McPeak, both of whom had sharply criticized Mrs. Clinton but neither of whom were removed. ÒEach circumstance is different,Ó Mr. Wolfson said. ÒGeraldine Ferraro is not an adviser, she is not a member of the staff and we have made clear that we reject her comments, that we disagree with her comments, that she was not speaking on behalf of the campaign.Ó Mr. Obama was asked about the matter this morning on NBCÕs ÒToday.Ó ÒPart 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 thatÕs about race and about gender and about this and that, and thatÕs what Americans are tired of because they recognize that when we divide ourselves in that way we canÕt solve problems.Ó |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: GUEST,lox Date: 12 Mar 08 - 08:38 PM What an absurd idea ... ... Have I eally just read the assertion that the only thing Obama has going for him is that he's black? ... ... And that this is somehow giving him an advantage? ... ... I'm off to scratch my head and make sure that Gravity doesn't make things fall up and perhaps try (In vain I fear) to convert the Pope to Catholicism and train a bear to shit in the woods ... ... And then I'll look soulfully down at my manacles and envy the advantage that Black paople have in society ... and I'll start singing the blues ... and maybe start a civil rights movement ... ... Doctor ... where's my pills ... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Peace Date: 12 Mar 08 - 08:52 PM Hi, lox, long time no see. How you been? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: GUEST,Stranger Date: 12 Mar 08 - 09:10 PM Ferraro said it and she should be commended because it is all so true. She looked political correctness in the eye and spit on it. Bless her! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Riginslinger Date: 12 Mar 08 - 09:27 PM Yeah, I agree. Political correctness is a bigger problem than all the racism and feminism put together. People need to be able to engage in an honest dialogue. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Little Hawk Date: 12 Mar 08 - 09:30 PM No, lox, it's a combination of things. He's got a whole LOT of things going for him. He's a great orator, he's smart, he's optimistic, he's unitive rather than divisive in his approach, he's good looking, he has grace and confidence, he's a relative newcomer rather than an oldtime Washington hack, he appears to be a "fresh face" which gives people hope for genuine change, he's got a wife who also makes a great impression, he's rather young...and he's Black. That last matter is of advantage in one key and specific sense: it gets him a hell of a lot of Black votes, because he appears to have a darned good chance of winning. It also gets him a certain number of "liberal" votes from other people who would like to see the civil rights struggles of past years which they supported in their youth finally and fully vindicated. Put all those things together and it does a real strategic body punch to the Clintons, because it takes away so much of the Black vote from them...and a chunk of the "liberal" vote too...and they had always counted on having those votes all sewn up. At the same time, however, the fact that he is Black also means that he loses the votes of a lot of people who simply will never vote for a Black man as president. And the fact that he's young and a relative newcomer loses him the votes of a fair number of people who figure he's too inexperienced. And the fact that he has a Muslim name loses him votes from a certain moronic contingency too. That's not to be discounted. So it's a bit of a puzzlement, ain't it? Is his ethnicity more of a help or a hindrance to him finally getting elected? We won't know for sure until it happens...if it does. No one is suggesting that it is merely and only the fact that he is Black which is of benefit to his campaign. To suggest that would be just downright ridiculous. To suggest, however, that it is a major factor in him getting a huge majority of Black votes in the primaries is merely to state what is by now quite obvious. Just look at the statistics. Why would anyone be surprised by this? The Clintons must be fit to be tied about it...because remember: Bill Clinton was once called "the first Black president" by more than a few Black people. Poor Bill has been sidelined from that role now. He probably feels like he's been robbed! ;-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: GUEST,Guest Date: 12 Mar 08 - 10:08 PM Ferraro is an idiot now, and has always been an idiot. The Clinton campaign should be distancing itself from her, because the assertion is idiotic. The only thing that has made any sense in this thread is that Clinton wouldn't be where she is, if it weren't for that famous husband of hers. At the rate things are going here, no one from either the Obama or Clinton will be allowed to talk at all. We can only hope. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: GUEST,Stranger Date: 12 Mar 08 - 10:16 PM So, Obama wouldn't be where he is for not if he wasn't black. Hillary would not be where she is if she wasn't Mrs. Bill. And McCain wouldn't be where he is if he wasn't such a patriot. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Little Hawk Date: 12 Mar 08 - 11:09 PM And I wouldn't be here were it not for my devastatingly attractive cheekbones... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Jack the Sailor Date: 12 Mar 08 - 11:57 PM McCain wouldn't be where he is now if he hadn't kissed Bush's ass and campaigned for him. That doesn't exactly make him popular with Democrats and independents. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: number 6 Date: 13 Mar 08 - 12:04 AM JFK would never have been there if old Joe hadn't shook hands with the Chicago mob. biLL |
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Subject: RE: BS: Geraldine Ferraro on Racism From: Deckman Date: 13 Mar 08 - 12:04 AM My sweet peas are sprouting ... I wonder what color they'll be? Bob |
