Poor Geraldine Ferraro. For simply stating what she believed to be true, many of her fellow Democrats and the liberal intelligentsia are impugning her very character and even her mental well-being.
What sin did she commit that has the defenders of political correctness up in arms? She was honest enough to say what many in Washington have been whispering for months. In a recent newspaper interview, Mrs. Ferraro said, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. 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."
Horrors. Apparently, for many liberal cable hosts, reporters and pundits, raising the possibility that Barack Obama might be an affirmative-action candidate was just too much to bear. One well-known left-leaning journalist went so far as to try and excuse and explain Mrs. Ferraro's comment by saying, "She has not been well lately. She's been very sick and on medication."
Meaning, of course, that the only people in Washington who would ever dare speak the truth would have to be on mind-altering drugs. That, or we have to accept the sleazy inference from this liberal reporter that Mrs. Ferraro is somehow mentally incapacitated.
Along with her refreshingly candid assessment of Mr. Obama's meteoric rise in the national polls, Mrs. Ferraro was also quick to point out and admit that if her name had been "Gerald" instead of "Geraldine," she never would have been picked as Walter Mondale's running mate in 1984. So, for much of the liberal media, it's okay if she tells the truth and admits that she was an affirmative-action pick, but should she apply the same logic to Mr. Obama, she needs to be shouted down, vilified and denied her First Amendment rights.
Not only is this liberal reaction to Mrs. Ferraro wrong, but it's also two-faced and opportunistic. Over the course of the last several months, I have spoken with a number of liberal Democrats and members of the media in Washington who have echoed the very words of Mrs. Ferraro. All have expressed the same doubts or asked the same question with regard to Mr. Obama and his frontrunner status. That being, "If he were a white man who had just come out of a state legislature and had basically just one year of experience in the United States Senate, would anyone be pushing him to run for president?"
Reasonable people can certainly debate the issue. What people can't do — and what the far left has done to Republicans for years — is to subjectively play the race card for partisan gain. Surely, Mrs. Ferraro deserves better from her party and her fellow liberals. Surely, she has earned the right to offer an opinion without being viciously attacked by those who have wondered the exact same thing.
To be sure, surrogates of Hillary Clinton have shamelessly tried to use race against Mr. Obama. While some political pundits have contended that the Clinton campaign commercial that breathlessly stated, "It's 3a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world... Who do you want answering the phone?" helped her win the Texas primary, people I have spoken with in the state say something entirely different.
They give some of the credit for Mrs. Clinton's victory to the racist message implied by the photo allegedly released by someone from her campaign of Mr. Obama dressed in traditional Somali attire — a photo released to feed the rumor that Mr. Obama is really a Muslim.
With that theme in mind, former Sen. Bob Kerrey, another Clinton supporter, had previously stated, "I like the fact that his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim... I think it is a tremendous asset for him... that he spent a little bit of time in a secular madrassa."
For those still not picking up on the theme or the fear-mongering, Mrs. Clinton herself was more than willing to wade into the mud. When asked recently on "60 Minutes" if she believed Mr. Obama to be a Muslim, she offered a weak denial before sneaking in, "No... as far as I know."
Message received, Hillary. You and your team have zero problem playing the race/Muslim card. We get it. But that is not to say that everyone on your team is willing to follow suit.
Mrs. Ferraro did not invoke Mr. Obama's middle name. She did not mention the words "Muslim," or "madrassa." She did not circulate a photo meant to draw a racist conclusion, but she still had to resign from the Clinton campaign.
All she did is openly say what much of official Washington thought. And for that, the liberal hate machine has gone after her with a vengeance. Shocking.