Ferraro's Foolishness And Other Matters
Posted on Mon Mar 10, 2008 at 04:16:33 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
By Big Tent Democrat
Speaking for me only
Via Kos, Geraldine Ferraro said:"I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama's campaign - to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against," she said. "For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It's been a very sexist media. Some just don't like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign.
So far so good. Insightful even. Then she goes off the rails:
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she continued. "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."
Um, no, he is not lucky to be an African American. Ferraro's comment is just plain foolish. Which is a shame because she hits the nail on the head with her next statement:
I was reading an article that said young Republicans are out there campaigning for Obama because they believe he's going to be able to put an end to partisanship," Ferraro said, clearly annoyed. "Dear God! Anyone that has worked in the Congress knows that for over 200 years this country has had partisanship - that's the way our country is."
Indeed. Unfortunately, as Markos did, that part of her remarks will be ignored.
In some ways Ferraro's frustrations lead to her foolish remarks. It is the fact that the Media accepts sexism malignly that seems to have led to her reaction. Many women are feeling this way. Consider this telling exchange about TPM presented in a post by Linda Hirshman:
I was blithely oblivious to the possibility that my dissenting views on the inevitability and divinity of the Obama candidacy might cause a problem. Never bashful, I thought I'd press the messenger.
Linda to Andrew: "So why did I not make the cut? Is writing for the times and the Post not good enough for TPM?"
Andrew: "It's not a matter of prestigious clippings, Linda. We're trying to both keep long-standing contributers [sic] around and flesh out the discussion by involving people who are covering things we're not yet addressing."
Linda: "And do you have a lot of contributors covering the female voters, who are likely to determine the outcome of the election of the President of the United States? I am assuming it's not that you don't want anyone who's not already in the tank for Obama. I am serious, here, Andrew. I think this is a real mistake; I have a point of view you don't have much of, I am getting increasingly prestigious opportunities to write and opine, and this is the moment you should capitalize on your relationship with me, not drop me."
Andrew: "I'm not sure the accusation of bias is particularly helpful. For now, like I said, we're focusing on getting our long-standing regulars and folks covering things we don't on the blog. I recognize that you think female voters should be one of those things, we disagree." [emphasis mine]
So. Either the dozen guys who run TPM do not think female voting behavior is worthy of their coverage or, dare I say it, they don't want to run material that might result in readers supporting a candidate other than the one they favor.
Perhaps a little of both Linda. Geraldine Ferraro's statement was foolish at best. But the behavior of the Media and many Left blogs on the issues of sexism and misogyny have been disgraceful and embarrassing.
NOTE - Comments now closed. Thanks for the discussion.
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