Geraldine Ferraro's Ugly Words - Accidental, or Campaign Ploy?

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/13384

Geraldine Ferraro's Ugly Words - Accidental, or Campaign Ploy?
Hillary Clinton
by RJ Eskow | March 12, 2008


Geraldine Ferraro, once a beacon of hope for the possibility of a new era in American politics, has now disgraced herself for a second time. Today's 'clarifying' comments regarding last week's racist remarks were, if anything, even more offensive. They, and now Ms. Ferraro herself, symbolize a dark and ugly political era that belongs firmly in the past. And by allowing her to remain with her campaign in an official capacity, Hillary Clinton has brought the shadow of Ms. Ferraro's disgrace upon herself.

snip//

Do I believe that Sen. Clinton has a secret command center dedicated exclusively to transmitting coded messages of racial bigotry? Of course not - er, I mean, not as far as I know. Do I think she and her staff use coded appeals to bigotry when it's convenient? Put it this way: A pattern of "accidental" racial slurs has persisted throughout the campaign, despite all the controversy, and has yet to be explained. (And, as a commenter noted, Ferraro used the same line in 1988.)

It's still possible, given enough public pressure, that Ferraro will resign from the Clinton campaign. That would be appropriate. But given the waffling today, even that would now leave the suspicion that this was an example of a time-worn and dirty political tradition: Have a surrogate inject hateful ideas in the campaign, then let them take the fall for it once the ugly message has been set loose.

Either way, it's time for Geraldine Ferraro to retire from the public stage. At this point she's no longer just an embarrassment to the Clinton campaign. Her continued presence as a Democratic figure tarnishes the entire party. At a time when American politics needs to lift its sights toward higher purpose, she is a reminder of its ugly past - one that, sadly, is apparently still alive and well in some quarters.

Oh, and one last question: Is Geraldine Ferraro by any chance a superdelegate?

[IndianaGreen]

1. Campaign ploy!

Hillary is doing her Willie Horton version of race baiting.

[NDambi]

4. Wouldn't surprise me if its part of their strategy

[ulysses]

16. can you say "Sista Souljah"?

I knew you could!

[goclark]

17. Ploy ploy ploy

She is so transparent.

[saltpoint]

2. It does seem curious that so many Clinton surrogates have used

essentially the same tactics.

I think the trail leads back to the candidate.

[mod mom]

7. What do you expect from a candidate who CHOSE MARK PENN?

[saltpoint]

13. No kidding. Penn is the Devil's errand boy. No question about it.

[LakeSamish706]

3. Well, considering this "Ferraro used the same line in 1988" I seriously think...

this was a definite ploy by this campaign to once again instill racism into this contest.

[jackson_dem]

5. And who made her say the same thing in 1988?

Dukakis? Gore?

[C_U_L8R]

6. It's the final act

of a really cheesy play.
Can't wait for the curtain to fall on this one.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. A ploy...

That has worked very well in the past. However this year feels different. The ploy is losing its satanic magic.

[bklyncowgirl]

9. Campaign ploy, and a cynical one at that.

They're playing on the resentments of white working class people by inferring that Obama is some sort of affirmative action candidate.

[meow mix]

10. Totally Kitchen Sink

these clintons are so dirty its just bizzare. scary.

[Exilednight]

11. once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a strategy

[BumRushDaShow]

18. Exactly. n/t

[DJ13]

12. Ploy, but the Clinton camp probably wasnt expecting they would get..

....as much blowback from it as they did.

They seemed to forget the politically savvy voters and commentators would still remember the other 3 or 4 times they've made racially insensitive comments about Obama and reach a cumulative conclusion she's running a racist Republican type of campaign.

[Cha]

14. Well, is gerry a super delegate?

ferraro, herself, said she was a "lunatic". With surrogates like hilary's who needs enemies?

[HeraldSquare212]

15. Well, we certianly know they are habitual with her.

[peaches2003]

19. What makes my head spin is

that now Ferraro is playing the victim and whining that Obama has injected race into the campaign. When Hil and Bill started inviting Obama to be her VP and got caught on the idiocy of the proposal, the Monster actually said it was 'too early to be talking about VP selections' when she herself had started it. Bizarro World just gets weirdo and more out of touch everyday.

[kevinmc]

20. Geraldine Ferraro a Leona Helmsley wanna be

[Major Hogwash]

21. Yeah, campaign ploy for me, too.

But, only because splunge wasn't available as a choice.

[unblock]

22. well, if they DID want people to dwell on skin color, this would be the way to do it

this is the way to do dirty, slimy, hardball negative campaigning. get some surrogate to sully herself and do whatever it takes to stretch out the news cycle, with the goal being to keep people focused on race. the surrogate can take a fall as long as the result is that people focus on which candidate is white and which candidate is black. the front-runner distances herself from the ugliness while still making it clear to the bigots whose side she's on. the perfect pitch for the front-runner is to avoid getting dirty yet positioning herself to benefit from the focus on race.

if it was an accident, it was a very conVEEENient accident.