When Geraldine Ferraro popped up in the news this year – you know, claiming that “if Obama was a white man,” he wouldn’t be a successful candidate – I hadn’t heard this woman’s name uttered in 20 years.That’s because Geraldine Ferraro never accomplished anything.
Walter Mondale picked her as his running mate in 1984 because he wanted a woman. He wanted a woman because he wanted to make history. And he wanted to make history because he knew he was going to lose regardless.
If Geraldine Ferraro were a white man, she would never have been the vice presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.
Why does anyone consider her an important person?
Oh well. I’m streaming a 2-minute bite of her acceptance speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. Click here to hear it.
What’s interesting to me is the little butt-kiss she plants on Jesse Jackson, who in ’84 became the voice of the left wing of the party.
You can stream or download Ferraro’s complete speech by following this link to AmericanRhetoric.com.
isn't it funny how the least accomplished women are the loudest feminists?
ReplyDeletekellybelle - I agree.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people who scream the loudest do the least. It's as if talking about something takes the place of DOING that same thing.
Geraldine Ferraro was insignificant then and insignificant now!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, she was a 3-term member of the House of Representatives. That is generally considered pretty good experience for a vice presidential candidate - I'm not sure how she varies significantly from other VP candidates in that regard.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, in the aftermath of what I agree was a racist statement, she did acknowledge that she herself was tapped because she was a woman. Her quote was "if my name was Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would have never been chosen as a vice presidential candidate," (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23590166/).
I'm pretty bummed to see folks buying into the dichotomous thinking that HRC promoted - the idea that you're EITHER for women OR African-American Civil Rights - as if there are no Black women in the world - or as if someone who wasn't both couldn't support both the rights of women and Black people.