May 19, 2008
Ferraro "Might" Not Vote For Obama
No bygones here. In a New York Times story today about women still rankled by Hillary Clinton's fall, Geraldine Ferraro says that she might not vote for Barack Obama.
“I think Obama was terribly sexist,” she said.
Read on for evidence that Obama has a very real challenge ahead of him in appealing to those boomer women and low-income, non-college educated women who have steadfastly backed Clinton.
Posted at 10:57 AM
Comments
I'm not sure anyone cares for whom Ferraro votes. However, I many not vote for Obama, either. He is going to have to demonstrate to me, in terms as clear as fine crystal, that he is not going to allow a marriage amendment to pass while he is on his throne at 1600!!!
Royal King | 05.19.08 11:21 AM
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OOPS!!!
many = may (not the word that sounds like the big mouse's girlfriend)
Riyal King | 05.19.08 11:24 AM
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Who Ferraro votes for will not be decisive. But all of those boomer women and lower-educated women very well may not 'come home.' Many of them have never been strong Democrats anyway, but instead are critical swing voters in presidential elections in some states.
Take a look at how critical by comparing how Bush did vs. Kerry and Gore among white women compared to B. Clinton in past exit polls. Also compare how poor Kerry did among lower-middle income white voters and lower-educated voters (no college degree) in states like Ohio. If Obama replicates this, he loses.
And these women aren't voting for Obama if he chooses Webb, Strickland, Wes Clark, or Sebelius or some faux stand-in for Clinton. Only way to get their votes is Obama-Clinton.
John | 05.19.08 11:25 AM
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Ferraro calls herself a democrat ? WOW ! So much for supporting the nominee . Sad to think that someone so influencial would allow her own bruised ego to get in the way of the greater good .We need to start thinking of defeating Mc Cain by uniting the party not dividing us with these very personal and irrelevant remarks . Ferraro needs to examine her motives here !
kae | 05.19.08 11:52 AM
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Oh noes! How will he ever win the swing state of New York? Grow up Geraldine. Your team lost. It's sad, but we move on.
Seth | 05.19.08 11:55 AM
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Dear Geraldine: Beat it!
BeavisfromMontana | 05.19.08 11:56 AM
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OMFG. WHY is this on On Call? The quote you put on the top of your page today is buried on the 2nd page of the NYT story. And why? Because there is NOTHING behind it.
HOW is Barack Obama "TERRIBLY SEXIST"? Even Ms. Ferraro -- a HORRIBLE candidate in her time and politically irrelevant for 2 decades -- makes NO attempt at an explanation. This is NOT misogyny, this is pure and simple politics. Choosing the best candidate. Ms. Ferraro was not the best candidate when she ran. Hillary Clinton is not the best candidate now. It is the furthest thing from "terribly sexist".
If anything it shows two things: 1) Ms. Ferraro has her own personality issues that she needs to confront, and 2) On Call is more interested in pathetic sensationalist 2nd-hand crap than real political analysis.
Absolutely pathetic and thoroughly infuriating.
Do your jobs.
"Evolving wisdom and original reporting"
Ethan | 05.19.08 12:07 PM
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If Ferraro were a man s/he'd still be insane.
Jim Sweet | 05.19.08 01:12 PM
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Boo, hoo, don't cry!! Who cares if the racist Geraldine Ferraro doesn't vote for Obama!! GO, GO OBAMA!!
yoli | 05.19.08 01:42 PM
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Uh, Royal King? Presidents don't have anything to do with Constitutional amendments. Legislatures, at the state and federal level, do.
Josh | 05.19.08 02:13 PM
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But wait? I thought Obama told his supporters to UNITE with the Hillary supporters?? Let's see, how can you when you refer to her as Annie Oakley, give her the finger, condesendingly smile and mimick a fake gesture to calm your supporters from BOOING Clinton every time her name is mentioned, do NOTHING to quell the overwhelming hatred toward her, her supporters wen they hold a different view than yours?? AAHH, that's right Obama. I smell unity in the air!! GO HILLARY!!!
Black Hillary Supporter | 05.19.08 03:44 PM
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Presidents don't have anything to do with Constitutional amendments.
-
Well, in the words of DP Moynihan: you're certainly entitled to your own opinion, but NOT your OWN FACTS!!!
Royal King | 05.19.08 04:16 PM
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Ferraro...what a joke!
I think that's a good sign for an Obama victory in the fall...after all everyone knows when she is on or supports a ticket---it's death to it.
Jim J. | 05.19.08 05:41 PM
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>>>BOOING Clinton every time her name is mentioned
Maybe when she stops taking her cues from Karl Rove, we'll stop booing.
Think I'm lying? Haven't seen it yet? Today in Kentucky:
"Just today," Clinton said, "I found some curious support for that position when one of the TV networks released an analysis done by -- of all people -- Karl Rove, saying that I was the stronger candidate. Somebody got a hold of his analysis and there it is.”
Just bizarre. She needs to stop. Right now. I used to love Hillary. She's my Senator. She's done a great job for NY. I supported her in this race until around NH. Now I just want her off the freakin stage and back in her role as Jr. Senator of NY. A-S-A-MFing-P.
Ethan | 05.19.08 11:44 PM
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Ferraro is acting like a spoiled two year old. She is only going to increase the potential that we will get a real sexist for a President. She has to know that.
Kay | 05.20.08 12:23 AM
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Ferraro's sentiments are same as many women voters. Hillary has been treated so badly by the media and Obama's supporters enjoyed the support of the sexist media as well. I do not think Obama can win without the support of the Hillary supporters.Many of us who are Hillary supporters will not vote for Obama unless he tries to unite the party by offering her the VP position. If Hillary turns it down it is a different matter.If he does not offer the position to her Obama is going to lose the General Election. Hillary Clinton will run again in 2012 and she will win by a land slide.Obama and Obama supporters rememeber PRIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL!!
jody | 05.20.08 05:00 AM
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Ferraro's sentiments are same as many women voters. Hillary has been treated so badly by the media and Obama's supporters enjoyed the support of the sexist media as well. I do not think Obama can win without the support of the Hillary supporters.Many of us who are Hillary supporters will not vote for Obama unless he tries to unite the party by offering her the VP position. If Hillary turns it down it is a different matter.If he does not offer the position to her Obama is going to lose the General Election. Hillary Clinton will run again in 2012 and she will win by a land slide.Obama and Obama supporters rememeber PRIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL!!
jody | 05.20.08 05:01 AM
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Ferraro's sentiments are same as many women voters. Hillary has been treated so badly by the media and Obama's supporters enjoyed the support of the sexist media as well. I do not think Obama can win without the support of the Hillary supporters.Many of us who are Hillary supporters will not vote for Obama unless he tries to unite the party by offering her the VP position. If Hillary turns it down it is a different matter.If he does not offer the position to her Obama is going to lose the General Election. Hillary Clinton will run again in 2012 and she will win by a land slide.Obama and Obama supporters rememeber PRIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL!!
jody | 05.20.08 05:02 AM
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Ferraro's sentiments are same as many women voters. Hillary has been treated so badly by the media and Obama's supporters enjoyed the support of the sexist media as well. I do not think Obama can win without the support of the Hillary supporters.Many of us who are Hillary supporters will not vote for Obama unless he tries to unite the party by offering her the VP position. If Hillary turns it down it is a different matter.If he does not offer the position to her Obama is going to lose the General Election. Hillary Clinton will run again in 2012 and she will win by a land slide.Obama and Obama supporters rememeber PRIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL!!
jody | 05.20.08 05:03 AM
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If McCain gets elected, Ferraro's ego-centric raves will come back to haunt her.
Bob | 05.20.08 09:04 AM
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IT IS WAY PAST THE TIME FOR WOMEN TO MAKE A STAND. I have been a democrat all my life and have voted in every election since I became eligible. I want the democrats to win more than anything, EXCEPT that I want a world without misogyny more. If Senator Clinton is not on the ballot in the fall, then I want all the women in this country to stay home and boycott the election. Geraldine Ferraro is the sole voice brave enough to come out and say what is in her heart and mind. She says what is in my heart and mind too. If I was rich, I'd be taking out ads in all major newspapers appealing to women to voice their intention to stay home in November.
Maggie | 05.20.08 10:21 AM
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IT IS WAY PAST THE TIME FOR WOMEN TO MAKE A STAND. I have been a democrat all my life and have voted in every election since I became eligible. I want the democrats to win more than anything, EXCEPT that I want a world without misogyny more. If Senator Clinton is not on the ballot in the fall, then I want all the women in this country to stay home and boycott the election. Geraldine Ferraro is the sole voice brave enough to come out and say what is in her heart and mind. She says what is in my heart and mind too. If I was rich, I'd be taking out ads in all major newspapers appealing to women to voice their intention to stay home in November.
Maggie | 05.20.08 10:22 AM
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>>>If Senator Clinton is not on the ballot in the fall, then I want all the women in this country to stay home and boycott the election.
Hahaha. Suuuuuure. Spoken like a GOP op.
Women SHOULD make a stand. For Obama and not for McBush and not for nobody. Nobody ever made a stand by doing nothing.
Women went through SUFFRAGE in order to win the RIGHT TO VOTE. And now you want to throw that away because your candidate lost? I doubt it. You, Maggie, are more likely a Republican trying to play women voters. Ain't gonna happen.
The Dems, including Hillary, WILL unite around Obama. And he is going to be in the White House come Jan09.
Ethan | 05.20.08 10:36 AM
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Geraldine Ferrara is right. If Obama wants to unite this party, he'd better offer the VP to Hillary or he will lose the support of many
Jean | 05.20.08 12:07 PM
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I am a Democrat.
But I will not be voting for Obama. Geraldine Ferrraro was brave enough to say that Obama is Sexist.She speaks the truth.The media is so unfair against Hillary Clinton.
Cecilia | 05.20.08 03:50 PM
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>>>Ferrraro was brave enough to say that Obama is Sexist.She speaks the truth
Why?
Nobody has presented a single bit of evidence pointing to a remark by Barack Obama that is even remotely sexist. None of the comments here -- including the original post and including the original NYT article (that I read, both pages) -- include a sexist remark.
Why should we trust your "I am a Democrat" remark?
Sounds like you are trying to create a schism that doesn't exist (a classic Rovian Republican tactic).
Ethan | 05.20.08 04:15 PM
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Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself here. When someone screams SEXIST or RACIST and there is nothing to it, I get very suspicious. When there is no rebuttal to a simple request for any kind of proof... Well that should seal the deal that something fishy is going on. I'm not saying women might not vote for Obama because they'd prefer a historic woman President, some will. The key, as always, is the trend.
HERE is the trend:
Obama is now tied with Hillary among whites (47%-47%); leads her among women (49%-46%); edges her among Dems with a high school graduate or less (46%-47%); and leads her among Hispanics (51%-44%).
Those groups, obviously, have been the bedrock of Hillary's candidacy. The only major demographic group that Hillary gets 51% or more of are women aged 50 and older.
www.gallup.com/poll/107407/Obama-Surge-Fairly-BroadBased.aspx
People are sick of race/gender/religion baiting. That's why Barack Obama is going to win the White House.
Ethan | 05.20.08 06:23 PM
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To all the Hillary supporters who won't vote for Obama, wave goodbye to a divided Supreme Court. Under McCain we'll have a few new justices just like Roberts and Alito. There goes Roe v Wade into the sunset. So long. Live in the deep South and want an abortion?. Better have the money to do some traveling. And exactly how is Obama "terribly sexist"? I guess if you think that being African-American is a help when running in a national campaign, it says a lot about your judgment.
Dave | 05.20.08 09:52 PM
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To those claiming there is no evidence of Obama's chauvisim...early on in his campaign, he claimed that Clinton saying she has experience is like if Obama were President and HIS wife claimed she should run. He disregarded the fact that Clinton is a politician in her right, while his wife is 'just' a lawyer.
You may have forgotten about this or not even known about it b/c the media sure as hell didn't bring it up much after the fact...any clips running anywhere with it. I remember the video interview clearly. You think his campaign manager didn't run young Obama through interview camp later that day? Watch how much this cocky guy slips up now that he doesn't have to be so careful...just you watch.
Alex | 05.21.08 03:12 AM
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Many of us will not vote for Obama because he represents division. There is no way someone with such a limited background can rise to the top as fast as he and provided the money he has raised without a seasoned insider who knows how to get things none. The problem for many of the young is they have not lived long enough to see how they are being manipulated. Time will come when they will find the true rulers behind the veneer of Obama's candidacy. Obama is a con artist and all of his supporters have been conned!
sofiamae | 05.21.08 10:27 PM
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Many of us will not vote for Obama because he represents division. There is no way someone with such a limited background can rise to the top as fast as he and provided the money he has raised without a seasoned insider who knows how to get things none. The problem for many of the young is they have not lived long enough to see how they are being manipulated. Time will come when they will find the true rulers behind the veneer of Obama's candidacy. Obama is a con artist and all of his supporters have been conned!
sofiamae | 05.21.08 10:28 PM
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I will not vote for Obama either, nor will I vote for McCain, if Hillary does not get the nomination. It's impossible to explain how many of us women feel about this election.
It IS about race. I believe that what Ferraro said when she was treated so badly by the press is this: Take, for instance, someone like our Mark Udall in Colorado. If he had been elected to the Senate for the first time when Obama was and had not yet completed his term (though he at least has completed terms in the House of Representatives), he would have a hard time, even with his name recognition getting as far as Obama has. This is people voting as they do for the next American idol, and his race is a huge draw for many young voters who like to feel "cool."
It IS also a race about gender. I am just sick of seeing women constantly knowing more, working harder, and always being treated as not quite as good as some man who gives the drudge work to do for someone else.
And don't say to me that Ferraro is not a good Democrat, when at the same time you allow a man who says he wants to be a President like Reagan be your choice for Democratic Presidential nominee. But you probably didn't live through Reagan and are too lazy to ask or really study the history of what Reagan's legacy has been. You've just bought the popular notion of his deification as if we were the Roman Empire whose caesars could be declared gods upon their deaths. Whose management style allowed the Bushes and Cheney into the halls of power?
Those of you criticizing women for not falling lockstep into voting for Obama if Hillary doesn't win the nomination probably don't understand the "sanctity" of your individual votes.
I try not to give mine away lightly, and this election is too important. I will not throw it away on a smug know-nothing, who borrowed most of his policy ideas from the likes of Hillary as he borrowed speeches from others.
He is, after all, the one who defended abstaining on votes in Illinois as a traditional tactic. I will abstain in the Presidential election if he is the nominee. HE and his followers will be to blame if McCain wins because they insisted on pushing to the forefront a man with no experience, little real in-depth knowlege, a man too afraid to debate a woman.
You have alienated a really large group of the Democratic party base, and you're probably active Democrats in many cases for the first time in your lives.
The Democratic Party will finally, after over thirty years, lose my support. I will swear off politics, start donating all the money and effort I've given to politicians to my animal rights causes, and laugh as the Obama people flounder around an blame everyone but themselves when things go wrong.
Diana | 05.21.08 11:13 PM
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Diana, if Mc Cain wins you can laugh and blame us. But I will be laughing harder once your right to reproduce is removed, when the pay gap you're complaining about becomes so hard that you can't afford to save your precious animals, or when your son is on his 4th round to Iraq. Would I be disappointed if Clinton won the nomination? Yes. Would I vote for Mc Cain or choose not to vote? How stupid do you think I am? Hillary has opened up the process for all women who share my views on policies. She lost me once she started claiming votes she didn't care about at the beginning of the process. You might have a good reason for not liking Obama. But if you would rather see McCain's policies in the white house instead of his, then my four years as a democrat taught me more than your 30+ years about politic.
jimmy | 05.22.08 07:17 PM
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Jimmy, you little "sweetie"! (I guess if it's o.k. for Obama to call a young woman that, it's o.k. for me to call you that, too.)
First of all, my two sons are not in Iraq--for the military or for any of the mercenaries. I raised them right.
Secondly, a McCain as President will have to face a huge Democratic majority in Congress this time--I have no doubt about that. I will not vote unless I can truly vote FOR someone and not simply against someone. If you are so for Obama, why aren't you so sure he's good enough to win on his own without my vote? I am convinced that Hillary has more of a chance to beat McCain than Obama does--I am not alone in studying the "math" without Obama's slant on it.
And, please, don't get me started on how people tend to belittle those of us who understand that the way we treat animals is this world says very much about how we are spiritually and ethically. Check it out; do some research. Animal rights people cross all boundaries of race, gender, nationality, etc. It's not a minor movement any more.
I have one vote; I just wanted to express my individual opinion. You won't get anyone on these blogs to change his/her mind, so quit trying.
Diana | 05.23.08 02:37 PM
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I am back to provide the Obamabots some food for thought from a British prospective. It's a must rea for all young women who feel they can expect equal treatment in our country at this time--though women of Hillary's generation (and mine) did as much as they could to try for it.
http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/05/obama-clinton-vote-usa-media
Diana | 05.24.08 08:22 PM
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Go Hillary!! If not Hillary then McCain. NO OBAMA. Will never even consider voting for him.
rose06 | 05.26.08 09:54 PM
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It is incredible that the Dems are going to waste a sureshot of landing the presidency on Obama. He is too far left and will be exposed in the general election. McCain is almost center of the road, and is sure to pick up many disenfranchised Dems.
NOBAMA
Jamie | 05.30.08 11:07 AM
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