Via TPM, an interesting quote from Geraldine Ferraro in December 2006, in a Times piece on the chances of a woman and a black man running in the Democratic primary:
"All evidence is that a white female has an advantage over a black male -- for reasons of our cultural heritage," said the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, the civil rights leader who ran for president in 1984 and 1988. Still, he said, for African-American and female candidates, "It's easier -- emphatically so."
Ms. Ferraro offered a similar sentiment. "I think it's more realistic for a woman than it is for an African-American," said Ms. Ferraro. "There is a certain amount of racism that exists in the United States -- whether it's conscious or not it's true."
"Women are 51 percent of the population,” she added.
So what does Ferraro actually believe? When she wasn't stumping for Hillary Clinton, she seemed to think that race would be a hindrance for Barack Obama. Now, when the message is politically convenient for her candidate of choice, he's got it easier. Of course I have no idea what she really thinks, but this sort of background information only seems to lend credence to the suspicion that this is a conscious message emanating from the Clinton campaign, and Ferraro was only transmitting it for them.
--Kate Sheppard
