You think it can't get worse
And then it does. Big time. Not one interview by Geraldine Ferraro, but cable news shows, Good Morning America, a new interview with the Daily Breeze and the NY Times. Saying the same things. Over and over. Hillary Clinton's Finance Chair is still standing, to say words that should offend any Democrat.
Obama's appeal is he is the candidate for everyone. He transcended race. It was the Clintons who squandered the black vote, let's remember that.
But with several ugly, publicized days, Clinton, through her surrogates, has made it ALL about Obama being black. Any of his accomplishments, his God given intelligence and rhetorical gifts and vision for the country and the world, have been trashed to the ground -- because he wouldn't be where he was if he was black.
We're not allowed to make it be ALL about her being a woman. Or ALL about her being a Clinton. We're shut down, called betrayers (I'm a 57 white female). Any criticism of Hillary is because she's a girl -- not because she's lied with inpunity about Obama's record or accomplishments. Not because she has belittled any state and any voter who doesn't fall in line behind her. Not because she says she's tough, yet garners votes by expecting women to protect her. The utter gaul. The immense hubris. The cruelty. The mean-spiritness. There really are no words to express how angry I am.
In one fell swoop, Hillary Clinton has made everything good this man has done or stood for, meaningless. She may have ruined him in the general election. She has made this election about race, and only race. The entire soul of the party is to be sacrificed for her personal drama.
I will say what I have been afraid to say aloud since she announced she was running for President. Hillary Clinton is unpatriotic. Knowing the divisiveness she brings, the fact that she is the best rallying cry for Republicans -- I couldn't believe that the Clintons would subject us to all of that again. Bill had a good life, doing good deeds. Why in the world would they need to run for the White House? After they'd already been there for 8 years?
The darkness and narcicissim that is their ambition, I cannot fathom.
I was happy with all of our candidates, way back in January. I became more and more disilusioned with the Clintons (after defending them all these years). After the John McCain endorsement -- I began to question if I could vote for her in good conscience. The repeated endorsements of John McCain -- I became convinced she was unfit to be president.
But the Geraldine Ferraro assault on everything Democrats stand for -- with the wink-wink from the Clintons which amounts to abject support and approval -- I am now convinced that John McCain would be the only person of honor in a McCain/Hillary match-up.
I cannot, will not ever vote for her. She has no honor. She has no interest in winning me back, but I don't expect she would see the need to do so.
If Al Gore, Bill Richardson and John Edwards don't stand up this week, then they are all sheep, and complicit in the destruction of this party.
I have never been so sad to be a Democrat in my life as I am right now.
But I will channel this anger and disappointment into helping Barack Obama become our next president. It's an uphill battle against these forces, but I will fight the good fight as best I can.
Obama's appeal is he is the candidate for everyone. He transcended race. It was the Clintons who squandered the black vote, let's remember that.
But with several ugly, publicized days, Clinton, through her surrogates, has made it ALL about Obama being black. Any of his accomplishments, his God given intelligence and rhetorical gifts and vision for the country and the world, have been trashed to the ground -- because he wouldn't be where he was if he was black.
We're not allowed to make it be ALL about her being a woman. Or ALL about her being a Clinton. We're shut down, called betrayers (I'm a 57 white female). Any criticism of Hillary is because she's a girl -- not because she's lied with inpunity about Obama's record or accomplishments. Not because she has belittled any state and any voter who doesn't fall in line behind her. Not because she says she's tough, yet garners votes by expecting women to protect her. The utter gaul. The immense hubris. The cruelty. The mean-spiritness. There really are no words to express how angry I am.
In one fell swoop, Hillary Clinton has made everything good this man has done or stood for, meaningless. She may have ruined him in the general election. She has made this election about race, and only race. The entire soul of the party is to be sacrificed for her personal drama.
I will say what I have been afraid to say aloud since she announced she was running for President. Hillary Clinton is unpatriotic. Knowing the divisiveness she brings, the fact that she is the best rallying cry for Republicans -- I couldn't believe that the Clintons would subject us to all of that again. Bill had a good life, doing good deeds. Why in the world would they need to run for the White House? After they'd already been there for 8 years?
The darkness and narcicissim that is their ambition, I cannot fathom.
I was happy with all of our candidates, way back in January. I became more and more disilusioned with the Clintons (after defending them all these years). After the John McCain endorsement -- I began to question if I could vote for her in good conscience. The repeated endorsements of John McCain -- I became convinced she was unfit to be president.
But the Geraldine Ferraro assault on everything Democrats stand for -- with the wink-wink from the Clintons which amounts to abject support and approval -- I am now convinced that John McCain would be the only person of honor in a McCain/Hillary match-up.
I cannot, will not ever vote for her. She has no honor. She has no interest in winning me back, but I don't expect she would see the need to do so.
If Al Gore, Bill Richardson and John Edwards don't stand up this week, then they are all sheep, and complicit in the destruction of this party.
I have never been so sad to be a Democrat in my life as I am right now.
But I will channel this anger and disappointment into helping Barack Obama become our next president. It's an uphill battle against these forces, but I will fight the good fight as best I can.
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63 year old white female - for Barack!
Proud to stand with the campaign this is not maligning people for color, age, religion, gender, etc.
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March 12, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
My fear is that they now are ripping apart a vital part of the Democratic Coalition.
I cannot believe the tepid responses from the Clinton campaign to Ferrarro's bile...and now Ferrarro is claiming reverse racism against her.
I was a huge Clinton supporter/defender. I was so elated at Bill's election that I went to the cold '93 Inauguration and I held my tongue as he squandered all that he had.
I felt that they were unfairly attacked by the right, but, it seems that they now have perfected those same attacks and are now trying to kneecap their Democratic opponent.
I really would not be so horrified if they had ever thrown the kitchen sink at Bish/Cheney at any time the last 8 years. But they never did.
I would be really surprised if Hillary voted for Obama over McCain. She seems much more comfortable with him.
March 12, 2008 10:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ferraro is apparently intent on shoving her foot as far into her mouth as possible. She's proving to be an A-1 bigot, a real moron. She's saying things that the wingers won't even say and they're loving it.
It's bad enough that the racial overtones are so obvious, but what's even worse is that what she's saying is, as LauraJordan so eloquently put it, "butt-stupid." As Josh pointed out, African Americans make up 13% of the population. And never mind that her idiotic comments could just as easily be applied to Hillary ("She's only where she is because she's a woman.")
March 12, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
What you're missing is that the issue isn't that the comment could be applied to Hillary. It has been. Unilaterally. Ferraro was merely pointing out the double standard.
March 12, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary Clinton is not where she is because she is a woman, she is where she is because she is the woman married to Bill Clinton.
I'm sure many women who are not married to Bill Clinton would be happy to set you straight on that one.
(Disclosure: I happen to be a 50+ year old white guy, and I also know the truth when I see it.)
I am quite happy to be represented by a woman in Congress, and by a woman as my Democratic Senator. (The embarrassing male Republican, not so much...) I'd vote for either of them for any office they chose as long as they wanted it, up to and including the Oval Office.
Some of you just can't get past the fact that it's not that Hillary's a woman, it's who she is at a much more specific level of detail that generates our dislike for her. And at this point, there is literally nothing on the earth she can do to get back my vote. My Rep, yes. The Republican swine's replacement, no doubt. The state Legislative candidates, no trouble there. Hillary? Not a chance in hell - if she runs in November, I'll leave that spot blank.
March 12, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, I'm not married to Bill Clinton. I've watched Hillary since Bill's campaign and admired her for getting where she was, and while Bill helped, she's gotten where she is in spite or her gender through dogged, stubborn, old-fashioned hard work. Same as Obama, despite his color. Ferraro's comments go both ways by painting Hillary as a single issue candidate, a woman before all.
It's a mess. I wasn't paying much attention in '84, but was the primary campaign as rancid back then?
March 12, 2008 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hillary Clinton would not be running for the president if she wasn't married to Bill Clinton. Years ago Hillary Clinton turned up in New York, a state with which she had almost no connection, expecting to be made senator. At that time she had never run for, let alone won, a seat. All of this, because of who she is. Let's not pretend that Hillary Clinton has had to overcome the same obstacles other women out there.
March 12, 2008 6:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't leave it blank. Write in Obama.
March 12, 2008 4:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've never been quoted before--I'm flattered! :-)
You know, the Clinton campaign's tepid rejection of Ferraro's ridiculous commentary has had me really thinking hard (makes mah haid hurt!) about the Clintons and their relationship with African Americans. I was responding to a commenter on another thread who dismissing the Clintons as racist:
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"I do not believe that Hillary or Bill are racists (in case that needs to be said to get it out of the way), but I do believe that they are ultimately political animals."
Yeah. I had this view for a while. And then I thought, if I were African American, maybe I'd see it this way:
We have the first African American candidate who really is as qualified as the white candidate to be the Democratic nominee for President. But the person competing for the job is trying to cripple his chances of getting it by calling attention to his race.
What does that sound like to you?
I think African American resentment of the Clintons is running a little deeper than the surface appearance and analysis of these individual incidents. I really wonder if they've done permanent damage to their relationship with African American voters.
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I don't think Hillary will win the nomination. But if she does, I'll have to carefully consider whether or not I can give my vote to her if the nomination is won by stoking race and gender resentments. It's so egregious to me because it's within our own party. For me, racism is a DEAL BREAKER. PERIOD. It's bad enough when the Republicans exploit it--I won't tolerate and reward it within the Democratic Party.
Like 57, I hope some sane, neutral party heavyweights step up and firmly stomp out the race/gender fires being stoked here. If not, maybe this party needs to self-destruct and die.
March 12, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
RECOMEND
March 13, 2008 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for your post. The Ferraro comments hit me on a visceral level. Your sane outrage brings much clarity to the issues at hand. Racism and sexism are both outrageous, and you bring to the fore exactly how each is being "played" in this election.
March 12, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am a 54 year old white woman. Though I couldn't decide until the last moment who to vote for, Obama or Clinton, I chose Obama.
I decided to chose the one I beleived was best for the future of our country. Heart breaking as I have always wanted to see a woman president. But I put my country above my gender.
I thought I could endorse either candidate, but not after so many un-democratic statements and activities to undermine the process by the Clintons. Much less a "scortch earth"(the earth being the Democratic Party) when she in effect endorsed McCain over Obama.
This post is right on! I am disgusted with any Democrat (big tent, ha, ha) using "the race card" to garner votes from racists.
The leaders in the Democratic Party need to stand up and speak LOUD against this rhetoric and tactic.
Call your legislators to stand up against racism in America, they must be the voice in the MSM to dis-own Clintonesque racist tactics.
Hooray for KO... can't wait to hear what he has to say tonight.
And to all you younger readers, you can be the voice of the Party going forward in the future. Say no to this kind of race hatred.
March 12, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's encouraging to read these posts. Hopefully, Ferraro's moronic comments will shine light on the real affirmative action that's taking place here--the one for the wife of ex-presidents.
I didn't think Hillary could degenerate any more completely to channeling the Bush/Rove campaigns of 2000/2004, but now she's managed it. (Though even Bush didn't exalt his Democratic rivals over his Republican primary opponent. He had more aprty loyalty than Hillary.)
Unless she pulls out of this soon and works as hard as she can to elect Obama, she'll go down as the filthiest Democrat in history--the destroyer of the Party.
March 12, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for writing this post. I appreciate it and all of the wonderful comments, as well...except for destor23.
To destor23... she wasn't pointing out any double standard... she hasn't even mention that idea in any statement. When the media, on occasion in the past, implied that of Hillary, they were called sexist and had to apologize immediately.
March 12, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for sharing your personal thoughts/feelings on this, 57.
March 12, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bravo.
March 12, 2008 6:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some posters have suggested contacting the DNC. Here's the contact info:
Contacting the DNC:
Mailing Address:
Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
Main Phone Number: 202-863-8000
For questions about contributions, call 877-336-7200
Email form at: http://www.democrats.org/page/s/contact
March 12, 2008 7:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Any of his accomplishments, his God given intelligence and rhetorical gifts and vision for the country and the world, have been trashed to the ground "
Yes, this really hits the nail on the head for me in summing up the outrage that I think most of us feel about this situation.
Is he not the epitomy of the American story? If we were to take a minute to step outside of all of the nonsense and really look at his accomplishments this is what America is all about!
This is why so many Americans feel proud of him regardless of race or gender. This man is a scholar and peacemaker and this is just what the US needs right now internationally to heal some of these festering wounds. He is the one who can help mend those bridges with our allies and exercise the sound judgement to lead us forward both domestically and internationally.
Let us continue to support him not only through the victories but through the tough times as well. I think we all know from what we have seen that is won't be an easy road, but then nothing worth having ever is.
March 12, 2008 9:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Geraldine Ferraro is just another in a line of surrogates for Clinton playing the race card, first it was Bill, then it was Sheehan, then it was Bill again, then Bob Kerrey, and now we have Ferraro.
Ferraro is the Archie Bunker politician to stir up all the white blue collar males who think like Archie Bunker. Afterall, Ferraro was the Congressperson in the district Archer lived in on TV. She knows that mentality well. The media is helping by acting like this is accidental when they know Ferraro is a seasoned politician very capable of staying on message.
Hillary Clinton is the quinessential afffirmative action candidate and she will most likely wind up the nomineee after polarizing the country along racial and gender lines. She had lost the white male vote all her gender talk and now she has to get in back to stay in contention and the only way to do that is to play the 'reverse discrimination' card. Something Ferraro is very familiar with. S
Those archie bunker types in PA are going to fall right in line and vote for Clinton because they prefer a white female as the beneficiary of affirmative action.
March 12, 2008 10:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I became more and more disillusioned with the Clintons (after defending them all these years)."
This is exactly where I am. Last year, I thought all the candidates were good, and I'd defended Hillary Clinton for years and years. But I've had it now. Her behavior the last few weeks has turned my thinking completely around. I'm completely disgusted with Hillary Clinton.
On the other hand, Barack Obama looks better all the time. He just keeps impressing me more and more.
I'm a 57-year-old white man, if that matters.
March 12, 2008 11:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
WCG,
It matters only that you think you are, young man.
The racism inherent in the mythology of black and white (and yellow and brown and red) races kills, impoverishes and enslaves untold millions.
Would you go to a "White" church, want to live in a whites-only neighborhood, exclude anyone from your home or acquaintance because of the paigmentation of their skin?
I daresay you would not but you just separated yourself based on something that makes you particularly subject to melanoma and other skin cancers and that's about all.
Geraldine Ferraro isn't white and isn't right. Perhaps she should stay with her own kind, whatever they might be. It isn't Italian because Italians are very tolerant people overall.
Just a gripe. The deaths of millions sometimes bothers some of us persnickety types.
Obama's opponents are making him look better and better.
Best, Terry
March 13, 2008 2:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
while i agree that Ferraro went off the deep end, i would'nt jump to conclusions...now it could've been a ploy, and there's ample evidence to that effect but surrogates sometimes let their tongues write checks that their candidate can't cash...
what hurts Clinton is that she did'nt cut her loose, for obvious reasons, and Ferraros' dogged attempt to save face after the fact just made matters worse...
the campaign insists that she resigned of her on accord...i'm not sure that statement does'nt render further damage to the Clinton camp...it confirms that the campaign had no immediate intent on removing her...unless it was done behind the scenes...either way, another callous, hideous chapter in this continuing saga...
I tell my wife on many occasions that, for good or ill, america will see the Clintons true colors by the end of this process...there will be no denying it...
Obama is staying on the high ground and has skillfully disarmed the comment and its undertones with dignity, grace and class...a very presidential moment for him...
what started out as a lackluster week, has evolved into something unforseen...mini-MO...he pocketed WY, TX caucus, MS and an 8 delegate swing from the CA primary...
Meanwhile, both Ferraro and Clinton have given him some ammo to fire and he's bracketing quite effectively...her gains of last week have been erased while he's padded his popular vote by 100,000 tuesday night in Mississippi...
he need'nt bother with the pettiness and drivel of the Clinton campaign...
March 12, 2008 11:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. The media has lost sight of the fact that his story is indeed, the American dream at its finest.
A very good point: it's easy to support him when things are going well. But Barack has repeatedly be said that it would not be easy. Now is when we have to renew our commitments.
March 13, 2008 9:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
'84 was ugly, but not this ugly. We have never had another Democrat do what Hillary is doing to a Democrat. Never in my lifetime have I seen this level of destruction on the national level within our own party. This is unprecedented. And people who are on the fence need to understand how destructive this is. This says something very, very disturbing about Hillary's judgment, world view and her place in it. She will be a dangerous president.
In '84, Gary Hart was on his way to the nomination. The Parties that Be decided at the convention that it should be Walter Mondale's turn (sound familiar?) and gave him the nomination. Geraldine was SELECTED to be VP, true affirmative action at the time.
They lost 49 STATES to Reagan. 49 STATES. Geraldine couldn't even help to carry New York.
A lesson for the future.....
March 13, 2008 9:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
I guess she started making these statements in a radio interview February 26. The Obama campaign, let's remember, did not draw attention to them then. So this has been going on for weeks. There are reports (but of course I cannot verify this) that this is what she says at fundraisers. So yes, this is the position of the Clinton campaign. And has been. Until they got caught. But by getting caught, it got public. So the Reagan democrats are now validated.
Geraldine is unapologetic to the extreme. Her resignation letter was as graceless and mindless as these comments have been. She is now "free" to "speak her mind." Hillary did not fire her, and even denied initially that she was part of the campaign. A member of the Finance Committee, paid or not, is officially part of the campaign, Hillary.
Of all the things that could have set off the tinderbox, this has done it.
Again, let's see how Obama can undo this damage. After Kitchen Sink Week, I wanted him to punch back, hard. I now have come full circle. He cannot fight that dirty, by HIllary's dirty rules. He's better off doing what he does in his own way. Then America truly has a choice. And we'll find out soon enough what that choice is.
However, he needs to connect with the working class voter. He's done it in Illinois to great success. Less rallies, more one-on-one. At least soften her base somewhat.
Because she ain't cutting into his base. At all. Not ever again. The undecideds -- they both will have their appeal to them.
March 13, 2008 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Clinton's apology was not an apology, but a 'sorry if all these racial references offended anyone.' She used it as another opportunity to bring up parallels to Jesse Jackson, another opportunity to try to marginalize Obama as a black candidate. And her poll numbers went up in Ohio, as she knew they would.
March 13, 2008 10:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
62 white woman here. I was always an Obama supporter, but was happy to support Clinton if it came to that.
No More. I truly think a McCain presidency would be less harmful to the country than a Clinton presidency.
March 13, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink