Clinton vs. Obama: Ferraro resigns
Posted: Thursday, March 13, 2008 9:15 AM by Mark Murray
The Boston Globe covers Ferraro’s resignation yesterday from Clinton’s finance committee. “‘I am stepping down from your finance committee 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.’”
“Earlier yesterday, the 1984 vice presidential nominee apologized to those who thought it racially insensitive for her to suggest that Obama wouldn't be the Democratic front-runner if he were not black. But she then declared: ‘It wasn't a racist comment. It was a statement of fact.’”
The New York Times uses the resignation as a peg to write how race has once again become an issue in the Clinton-Obama contest. “[R]ace, as well as sex, have been unavoidable subtexts of the Democratic campaign since the two candidates began seeking to be the first African-American or the first woman to lead a party’s presidential ticket. In the primaries and caucuses this winter, too, Mrs. Clinton has enjoyed substantial support from women, while Mr. Obama has increasingly drawn overwhelming votes from blacks."
More: "Clinton’s reluctance to sideline Ms. Ferraro, who made her comments last week to The Daily Breeze in Torrance, Calif., left the specter of race hanging over the Democratic contest. That decision drew a sharp rebuke on Wednesday from the Rev. Al Sharpton … who questioned whether Mrs. Clinton’s campaign was keeping the issue alive as a way to win white votes in Pennsylvania.
The Los Angeles Times adds, "In the latest sign of a racial rift in the contest, two prominent black pastors warned Wednesday that African American voters could become so discouraged by the campaign that they might stay home in November if Clinton is the nominee.
Both campaigns were trying to make this week a battle of military credentials, but race has largely overtaken the issue.
NBC/NJ’s Athena Jones reports that Clinton had to deal with the race issue almost exclusively at last night's black newspaper conference. She was asked about Geraldine Ferraro's remarks and whether she had done enough to make sure those involved in her campaign knew that such comments were not acceptable. "Well, I said yesterday that I rejected what she said, and I certainly do repudiate it and regret deeply that, you know, it was said. Obviously, she doesn't speak for the campaign. She doesn't speak for any of my positions and she has resigned from being a member of my very large finance committee," Clinton said, before going on to say that both she and Obama had had to remind supporters and staffers that this primary campaign should be about the issues.
"We are aware that this happens, but we are particularly sensitive to it because of the nature of this campaign and who each of is. We do stand against it. We repudiate it," she said. "I think that given the intensity of feelings surrounding this campaign, we have been able to manage it well. It's not been common but when it happens, we both have spoken out and taken appropriate action."
When asked afterwards if she was satisfied with Clinton's answer, Barbara Reynolds, the NNPA columnist who asked the question said she had hoped for more. "Sometimes I don't think that she can feel the racial insensitivity like we can. This is why they don't get it. It's not that she's a bad person, but when people say things, you know, she can't get it, because she doesn't feel like we feel and I think some of us are very sensitive anyway, because of how we have lived and sometimes these things can fall on her ears differently. But she should rely on her black staff people to immediately tell her, 'Oh this is horrible,' because she should have come out immediately and demanded that Geraldine Ferraro disassociate herself from the campaign.”
The AP says that Clinton’s biggest apology at the conference last night “came in response to a question about comments by her husband, Bill Clinton, after the South Carolina primary, which Obama won handily.” More: "I want to put that in context. You know I am sorry if anyone was offended. It was certainly not meant in any way to be offensive," Hillary Clinton said. "We can be proud of both Jesse Jackson and Senator Obama."
