Jezebel
Geraldine Ferraro has had quite an Obama-hating, principle-abandoning year. First, claimed that Barack Obama only made it so far because he was African-American; then she got mad when people said that was offensive; next she called Obama a sexist with no evidence; and finally she tried, and failed, to explain to American the difference between "racism" and "racial resentment" to explain why she wasn't a racist. I was, to put it lightly, disappointed. But despite gender and sexism initially being the dominant issues of this election for her, she wasn't necessarily impressed with Sarah Palin (or John McCain), and, in the end, she can't bring herself to vote Republican.
If I have one quibble, and I do, it's the fact that her endorsement only came after the evening news on a Friday. Anything dropped Friday afternoon falls into a great big black news hole and Ferraro knows this. So, it's like she wants people to know that she's not an embittered P.U.M.A. and she's still a Democrat and whatever, but she's not really, really ready to stand on a stage with Barack Obama and repudiate her earlier remarks about him.
But, onto the (half-hearted) endorsement itself. She's going to vote for him, but she's apparently annoyed that she's never met him — which, um, I think is probably understandable given what she said about him earlier this year. And she still thinks his campaign was sexist toward Hillary Clinton, most likely because of his supporters' actions which is not the same, but if she can let that go I'm going to try to.
And although she still thinks that womanity wins when a woman runs, she is even less impressed by Sarah Palin than she was before:
Katie Couric was one of the few women journalists who said the way Hillary Clinton was treated was really very sexist. And she was very, very good in her interview with Palin. She was very on target. She didn't kill her with hard questions. And when you're asked a question like "What do you read?" God, you should be able to answer that one, you know?
Oh, believe us, we know.
So there it is. Obama might not have won Ferraro over — though she thinks Biden was a smart pick — but McCain-Palin have definitely lost her. Now maybe if we can just convince her that "racial resentment" is racism and not something she should be excusing or accepting, I can go back to admiring her for her accomplishments and the cracks that she put in that glass ceiling in 1984.
Gerry! [Politico]
Geraldine Ferraro Speaks Out [PBS]
Related: Clinton disagrees with Ferraro on Obama [Boston Globe]
Gender Issue Lives On as Clinton’s Bid Wanes [NY Times]
Healing The Wounds Of Democrats' Sexism [Boston Globe]
Earlier: Dear Gerry: You Gotta Think About What You're Trying To Do To Me
Ferraro On Palin: She's Not Voting For Her, She Swears
