[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/03/12/art.ferraro.march.ap.jpg caption=" Former U.S. Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Last night on this program, we were talking about Geraldine Ferraro's racial remarks about Barack Obama. I mentioned I had known her for a long time and that she used to have more class than that. Apparently I was mistaken.
Thanks to some excellent digging by Ben Smith at Politico-dot-com, we find out that the woman who helped Walter Mondale lose 49 states in 1984 has been saying offensive things about blacks for a long time. In a piece that originally appeared in the Washington Post on April 15, 1988, written by our friend, Howie Kurtz, Ferraro said, "if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race."
Which sounds a lot like what she's saying now about Obama that if he "was a white man, he would not be in this position." This kind of rhetoric should be beneath a former congresswoman and the first woman ever to run for vice president on a major ticket.
Sometimes you can learn more about someone watching what they don't do than by observing the actions they take. When Samantha Power, a top adviser to Barack Obama, called Hillary Clinton a "monster," she was gone the next day. Yet Geraldine Ferraro makes racial comments about Barack Obama, but retains her seat on Hillary Clinton's campaign finance committee. She also refuses to apologize.
This is the kind of ugliness that threatens to tear the Democratic Party apart.
Here’s my question to you: Should Hillary Clinton remove Geraldine Ferraro from her finance committee for the remarks Ferraro made about Barack Obama?
UPDATE: Geraldine Ferraro is stepping down from Hillary Clinton’s campaign finance committee. Ferraro sent a letter to Clinton saying she’s doing this “so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign. The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won't let that happen.”
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Ron from Washington, Pa. writes:
Jack, The whole Clinton campaign should be dumped for race-baiting. Ms. Ferraro's comments were those of a "country club racist". The type who goes to all of the charity events for the "underprivileged” but believes that every black who ever got ahead did so through affirmative action. They stand around the bar at the club complaining about blacks who are getting into the Ivy League schools while "good white kids" can't.
Rocky from Texas writes:
Don’t think so! She only said what everyone else already knows, but is too politically correct or afraid to admit. If you tell the truth, you are somehow a "racist". And if you're a Democrat and aren’t supporting Obama, you're all of a sudden a racist. This primary is completely about race and to a smaller extent gender.
Marion from Iowa writes:
Yes, it's telling that while one of Obama's advisers referred to Hillary as a monster and was fired within a day, Hillary has taken no action against Ferraro for her belittling racial comments toward Obama. To merely say these comments were unfortunate doesn't cut it. It was a hurtful reflection on all blacks. If Hillary were sincere in caring about black people other than for her own gain, she would feel this hurt immediately.
Angelo from Simi Valley, California writes:
Ferraro's comments are an outrage. Making statements like that only reveals the latent racism that exists just beneath the surface in our society. If Hillary had any decency, she would not only denounce and reject Ferraro's statements, but remove her from her campaign immediately.
Jan writes:
Hilary Clinton has already said she disagrees with the statement. What do you want, blood? The media are the ones who have made this a race and gender issue. Come on, Jack, ‘fess up. I didn't hear this hue and cry from you when all the nasty things were said about Hillary. Ferraro has a right to her opinion.
Gary from Hattiesburg, Mississippi writes:
Jack, You are an old, tired, and angry man. You belong with the two old men who sit in the balcony of the Muppet Show, and continually gripe about everything they view from their seats in the balcony. Shouldn't you be playing shuffle board in Florida or something? I told my wife if I ever get as old as Jack Cafferty and start mumbling nonsense, just put me away in a home.