Frankly Speaking

Geraldine Ferraro has gotten herself into trouble for, well, speaking the truth. The problem with that is that the object of her truth telling is Barack Obama, the first viable black presidential candidate in American history, and you're not allowed to speak the truth about him.

"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."

This reminds me of a similar "scandal" a few years ago involving Rush Limbaugh and his comments about Donovan McNabb. Rush addressed the fact that while McNabb was a decent quarterback, he was played up in the press as being one of the best out there, due largely to the desire of the press to see a black quarterback succeed. He was, of course, called a racist and forced to resign his position with ESPN, because we just can't have that type of commentary floating around out there.

Geraldine Ferraro find herself in a similar situation, and I find the entire situation amusing, because it is finally a long time Democrat bearing the brunt of racial righteous indignation.

Now, this doesn't mean Barack doesn't have strengths. Far from it. The man is a gifted public speaker and has shown himself to be a very good campaigner. But is he the savior of the world that his followers make him out to be? Far from it. What he has going for him, however, is the fact that he is a talented speaker, a good campaigner, and he is black. What Geraldine forget to mention is that he is a Democrat. If he were a black Republican running for President, he would never have received the favorable treatment from the media that has helped to catapult him into the national spotlight.

Let's look at another young, black politician; J.C. Watts from Oklahoma. He was the star quarterback for the Sooners, leading them to several bowl victories. He was the first black man to hold a state wide office in Oklahoma, and he ran for and won a congressional seat from Oklahoma.

J.C. Watts is just as gifted a speaker as Barack Obama. I know, because I've seen him speak. He's a bright leader and a man of integrity. Is there anyone out there that thinks he would receive anything but cat calls from the media or the Democrats were he to run for President? Or even Veep? He would receive much the same treatment as Clarence Thomas, because he is a minority who dares to be a Republican.

What is currently happening in the Democratic primary is what has happened to Republicans for years. If you are running against a woman or a minority, there is automatically a long list of things you cannot say, publicly or privately, about the candidate, merely because of their identity. Forget whether or not they are qualified for the office, the mere fact that they fit into a protected category, free from the scrutiny that the white guys have to put up with. Unless, as I stated earlier, they are a minority Republican, then the gloves are off.

Democrats have been programmed for so long to protect the female and minority candidates, they don't know what to do when they run against each other. If someone criticizes Clinton, they are misogynistic; if they criticize Obama, they are racist. If, however, they speak the truth, that Obama is where he is because of the color of his skin and Clinton is where she is because of who she was married to, then the fur is going to fly.

But the simple truth of the matter is just that; Hillary Clinton is only a candidate because of her marriage to Bill, and Barack Obama is only as popular as he is because he is a minority.

But isn't it fun to watch the Democrat's attempt at self destruction? By the time all of this is over with, all McCain is going to have to do for campaign commercials is play tape of Clinton and Obama destroying each other.

Update: Geraldine Ferraro is still attempting to defend herself against the charge of racism.

She said that in her comments to a California newspaper earlier this week, “I referred again back to the historic campaign of mine, and I said in Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Four, if my name had been Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would never have gotten the nomination. It doesn’t mean that I wasn’t capable of doing the job. I certainly was. I believe that if we had gotten elected, I not only would have been a good vice preisdent, but I would have probably run for president in 1992.”

She also accused the Obama campaign of continually playing the race card to its advantage.

“Every time this comes up, every time there is something to — some opportunity to play the race card — and this is being done by David Axelrod, who knows better, he’s his (Obama’s) campaign manager — every time they have an opportunity to do it, they do it. They did it against Bill Clinton, and it worked. They shut him up. They did it against (Pennsylvania Gov.) Ed Rendell, it didn’t work. And now they’re doing it against me.”

“I’m sorry. I said nothing negative. I care about the black vote in this country. I am absolutely thrilled by the historic campaign, and I really don’t think this is right that they should attack me,” Ferraro said.

More on the racial divide in the Democrat race available here.

Labels: mediots, presidential politics, race relations