Geraldine Ferraro and Samantha Power -- Ugghh!!

Samantha, thanks for stepping back. Gerry, thanks for nothing.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been having some fights lately. But mostly fair fights. She is questioning his credentials to be commander-in-chief; He is questioning her on tax returns. Not pleasant discussions in either case. But they are clearly real issues and most importantly, they are between the candidates themselves.

That is what we want in this race -- for Clinton and Obama to make their own case.

When folks try, on their behalf, to make a case through personal attacks, they aren't just hurting their own candidates, they are hurting all of us.

Samantha Power made a big mistake. She said something mean and personal and hurtful. And then she had the grace to apologize and step back.

Unfortunately Gerry Ferraro said something mean and personal and hurtful and she has been graceless and offensive in her own persistent defense. Not to mention tarring Hillary Clinton with a comment that the senator doesn't and shouldn't ascribe to reality.

Yet, Ferraro is bewilderingly insistent on staying in this fight. Even resigning from her support for Hillary so she can keep making a mess that Hillary is blamed for. As they say, with friends like these...

Have I said yet how heartbreaking it is for me to write this about Gerry Ferraro? I was 24-years-old at my first Democratic Convention serving with honor as a podium assistant when she stood up to receive the nomination to be vice president. I couldn't have been more proud.

Her formulation that Barack Obama wouldn't have the success he's experiencing if he were a white man is frightening. That somehow, his accomplishments in life and his standing before us as a presidential contender is a form of affirmative action isn't just offensive, it is bizarre. Fatherless at two, and dragged around the world. He made his own life. He is in this race because he is a touchstone politician. And I said that with admiration. In Obama we have a candidate who doesn't just understand that politics is about each of us, he actually has the talent and natural gifts to make us believe it, too. Hillary Clinton offers us a commitment to new policies we've been hungry for these last eight years. Her forward thinking on solutions, her determination on our behalf and her endurance as a leader get my support. Both offerings are worthy. Both of their offerings are also shaped by their experiences as a black man and a white woman only in the best way, NOT the easy way.

Dr. Imani Perry, a professor at Rutgers University wrote yesterday:

"...we can look at this another way: If Barack Obama were a white man, these gifts he possesses might not have developed in the way they did. Each person comes into the world with a unique spirit. The interface of that spirit with the body into which he or she is born and the society and family in which he or she lives and grows, creates the human personality. Perhaps Obama's encounters with bigotry and the diversity of his experiences shaped many of the qualities we admire in him. Perhaps being born on American soil as Barack Hussein Obama, a biracial second generation American in a body that is always perceived as a 'Black man', gifted him with a second sight that voters are looking to in troubled times."

Robin Morgan, the accomplished feminist writer said of Hillary's Clinton's value as a female president:

"...Women have endured hatred, rape and battery, being the majority of the poor, of refugees, of caregivers, and the powerless. We know that at this historical moment women experience the world differently from men -- though not all the same as one another -- and can govern differently..."

If either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is in this race because of their race or their gender, then it is only because it is an inexorable part of them pushing internally to succeed. They weren't given any extra breaks.

Follow Hilary Rosen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hilaryr

Comments

[Lon]

But of course such attacks are not limited to Power and Ferraro. As you note, the call for Clinton to release her tax returns is a reasonable request (particularly given that Clinton's people hosted a conference call dedicated to trying to get the press to highlight the Rezko trial). And yet Harold Wolfson described this as Ken Starr kind of behavior. And he was presumably speaking for Clinton in this, and has not been rebuked by the candidate. So at least on the Clinton side, Ferraro is at best the tip of the iceberg. On the Obama side it seems that Power is pretty much all there is. And that was a remark said once, tried to be kept off the record, and apologized for immediately.

The sense of balance here seems off.

[GLaB]

Lon,

You didn't mention that "questioning his credentials to be commander-in-chief" is also a reasonable request - and yet the Obama camp is up in arms about it.

The sense of balance here is definitely off.

[BassMonk]

He is at least 35 years of age. He was born an American citizen. Those are the qualifications. What's the question?

[kindofblue]

How stupid Ferraro's comments are. If Obama were white, he'd be even more likely to be a contender-because with his obvious intelligence, drive, and accomplishments, he'd take the natural advantages that white men have and fly. For that matter, if a white woman like Ferraro had his talent, she mighta been a contender.

[chasgoose]

While I think Ferraro's comments are fairly absurd and borderline racist and I certainly don't think that Obama is getting any special treatment by the party or the media because he is black or that people would be more critical of him if he were white, I don't think he would be in the lead right now for the Democratic Party nomination if he weren't black.

First, the simple fact that Obama is anything other than a white man prevents Clinton from using the historic import of her becoming the first female president as a justification for voting for her. While that shouldn't really be part of anyone's rationale it would at minimum give Clinton a subconscious advantage in many people's heads (especially since people are trying to choose between politically similar candidates). Since Obama's win would have similar historic import, that subtle advantage is wiped out.

Most notably, however, I highly doubt that he would have the same level of support with African-American voters as he does now. Based on polling and demographics, African-Americans generally tend more towards moderate Democrats than progressive ones, and despite the fact that Clinton and Obama are almost ideologically identical, Obama has generally been appealing to the progressive wing of the party and Clinton has been appealing to the moderate wing. Currently Obama is winning African-American voters 8 or 9 to Clinton's 1. Since the race is so close even a small change in that ratio could seriously effect the results of the election (for example, many African-American women would almost definitely switch their allegiance to Clinton). For example, how many southern states like MS, AL, GA, DC, , MD, NC, SC, where African-Americans have made up almost half of the registered Democrats since the Republicans' "Southern Strategy" might have gone to Clinton if Obama wasn't black?

I want to stress that I am not trying to say that people are taking it easier on Obama because he is black and letting him get away with more than they would if he were white, but based on the voting history of African-American Democrats, a candidate like Obama simply would not have the overwhelming advantage among that electorate that he currently does. Even if he got 60% of African-American voters, that could have potentially changed the campaign. There is a distinct chance that not only would many states that easily went to Obama potentially go to Clinton, but that her leads in other states (TX, NY, CA, NJ, AK, OH, NJ, etc) would probably have been higher, increasing her delegate take. When the race is this close small changes can make huge differences. Even if only 15-20% of African-Americans that would have voted for Clinton are voting for Obama that could have been all the difference Clinton needed to overtake him.

[DennyCrane]

I agree. Obama's biggest disadvantage is his race. A lot of voters, particularly among Hillary's base, will NEVER ever vote for someone who's black. But imagine how many of those voters might suddenly switch to Obama if he were white. That Obama is able to win over as many people as he has despite his race speaks to what a great candidate he is.