The Blog Formerly Known As Vote '08

The first American female on a presidential ticket refuses to back down from comments she made earlier this week about Barack Obama.

UPDATE/5:16pm: CNN is reporting that Ferraro is leaving the Clinton campaign fundraising team.

UPDATE/5:22pm: Talking Points Memo has the letter:

Dear Hillary -I 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.

The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you.

I won’t let that happen.

Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do to make this a better world for my children and grandchildren.

You have my deep admiration and respect.

Gerry

Find out more about what the fuss is all about after the jump.

Geraldine Ferraro - some would say naturally - is a fierce campaigner for Hillary Clinton.

But comments she made this week have gotten her into hot water with the Obama campaign — & may have had some influence on the African-American vote in Mississippi yesterday.

Here is the entire quote of what she said in an interview for a story which you can read here:

“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.

“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.” Ferraro does not buy the notion of Obama as the great reconciler.

“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.”

The Politico picks up the blow-by-blow in the aftermath of that comment:

Obama’s aides announced they’d had enough “offensive” attacks, while Clinton’s suggested that they’d had enough of the politics of grievance. A top Obama adviser suggested that Clinton should “repudiate” Ferraro’s words, and another demanded Clinton drop her from the campaign. Clinton’s campaign, in response, essentially accused Obama of being the one to inject race into the contest, labeling his very complaint a “false, personal and politically calculated attack.”

The reactions began Monday night with a relatively mild reaction from Clinton’s campaign to the Ferraro comment.

“We disagree with her,” spokesman Howard Wolfson told Politico.

Obama’s campaign called a midday conference call, where Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, drew a line in the sand.

“All this is part of an insidious pattern that needs to be addressed,” he said, suggesting that Clinton is “trying to send a signal to her supporters that anything goes.”

…

Axelrod also called on Clinton to drop Ferraro from her finance committee.It was Ferraro herself who then returned later Wednesday to add gasoline to the fire.

“Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white,” she said.
In another interview, she crystallized one of the Clinton campaign’s unstated complaints about the racial dynamic of the contest. “What I find offensive is every time somebody says something about the [Obama] campaign, you’re accused of being racist,” she said. Her words drew another statement of disagreement from the Clinton campaign.

“Ms. Ferraro is speaking for herself. We have made clear that we do not agree with her remarks,” said Wolfson.

As of Wednesday morning, Ferraro has stood by her remarks, as evidenced in this interview on Fox News:

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Now it’s your turn. What do you think? Is Ferraro right to say Obama is benefiting from his race? Is Obama right to say this brings the campaign down to a low level? Was he right to press the issue? Was Hillary Clinton’s (& her campaign’s) response adequate? Should everyone just take a ‘time-out’ in the corner?

Let us know — post a comment!

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