Really, Gerry?

Geraldine Ferraro. Really? You don't see ANYTHING wrong with what you said? And the Hillary campaign is the victim here, according to you? You're the one who brought up the issue of race, and then suggest that the backlash of racism is absurd? You have said that attacks on Hillary, for example suggesting that her marriage to Bill is the only reason she is where she is, is sexist, but you saying Obama being where he is only because he's black isn't racist? Sorry Gerry, you can't have it both ways. I'm glad you resigned, because I want to believe deep in my heart that your comments do not reflect Hillary's campaign, just as McCain has already criticized members of his, and lost base supporters, for their similar comments.

And quite frankly, your comment has some truth, just not in the way you meant it. Of COURSE his being black is part of what got him here today. But not in the way you say it, in that his being black makes him a novelty. His race has absolutely shaped his place in the campaign, because it has shaped the man he is. It is without question tied to his identity, and as such is directly connected to the way he grew up, and the way he saw the world as he grew. None of us has any way of knowing how Obama would do in this campaign if he were a white man or a woman of any color as you say, because it is impossible to separate him from his racial background, just as it is impossible to separate Hillary from her marital history or you from your gender during the Mondale/Ferraro campaign in 1984. None of us would be where we are today without the things that shape our identity.

So what exactly was your point in what you said? Is it that any black man who ran for president in 2008 would have become the frontrunner of the Democratic party? I don't think so. It is Barack Obama's character, his charisma, his ability to inspire people that has led him as far as he has come, just as it is Hillary Clinton's warrior spirit that has kept her in the running as well, her knowledge of how to play the game, and her ability to garner the devotion of her supporters. Neither candidate is "lucky" to be where they are, they have both been fighting for their entire careers to get to this point, and they both deserve the position they are in and the right to have their voices heard in this primary.