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At the beginning of the year I was pretty much settled on voting for Clinton in the 2008 presidential race. I was one of many that were awed by Obama’s 2004 keynote speech but I didn’t know enough about him to sway me from the safe choice (Clinton). However, I was so intrigued with Obama’s success in Iowa that I took the time to read the Audacity of Hope. It took me 9 hours to pour through and the moment I set the book down I fired up my laptop and made a donation to the Obama Campaign.

As Obama gained ground and then pulled away from Clinton, I was dismayed to see the Clinton campaign resort to the “kitchen sink strategy.” A strategy that I perceived as a last ditch attempt to make Obama unelectable, in the hope that the super delegates will be forced to throw their support to her. The Clinton campaign then broke out Karl Rove’s media and communication playbook to sell the kitchen sink.

These Clinton tactics have so jaded my opinion of what she and her campaign are willing to do to gain the nomination that I have cynically concluded that the flap caused by Geraldine Ferraro was not accidental. It all started with a controversial comment:

“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” - Geraldine Ferraro

Many people believe that she was implying that Obama has achieved his current success because of affirmative action or because white americans feel guilty about their internal race conflicts, and had finally found a black candidate that was “safe” enough for them to prove that they are not really racist. I however, saw in her actions, signs that point to a much more sinister and Machiavellian plan.

Is it possible that Ferraro specifically planted this quote; a quote that, while not blatantly racist, was certainly on the edge and would assuredly raise controversy in the media? Ferraro is a smart woman and an experienced politician, she should have (and I argue that she did) know exactly how her words would be interpreted, and how that would play out in the media.

I think that Ferraro purposely planted the quote in the hopes that the Obama campaign would attack her on the issue of race. They didn’t quite take the bait - Obama called the comments divisive and patently absurd, but that didn’t stop Ferraro from appearing on morning talks shows and claiming that Obama was attacking her as a racist. It was a perfect platform to paint Obama as an unfair aggressor attacking the Matriarch of the democratic party (who has a 30 year record of supporting civil rights).

Watching the whole incident evolve, I couldn’t help but draw the conclusion that it was all staged to publicly sacrifice Ferraro in order to evoke a defensive reaction from white voters. When Clinton finally got around to asking Ferraro to step down, Ferraro took the opportunity to fire a final shot in her departure email (which was, of course, immediately released to the press).

“Dear Hillary, I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what’s at stake in this campaign. The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won’t let that happen. Thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to do to make this a better world for my children and grandchildren. You have my deep admiration and respect, Gerry”

I hope that I am wrong, I hope that Ferraro is just a product of a generation that is less sensitive to the nuance of how words and ideas are being used in the media today to spin agendas, create conflict and divide our nation. I also hope that Hillary had nothing to do with planning or approving this activity and that her lack of urgency with regard to dealing with it had more to do with her respect of Ferraro than her desire to let the firestorm of controversy build to a crescendo.

I hope all these things, but I no longer have the audacity to hope that Senator Clinton is listening to her conscious nor that she is willing to do what is in the best interest of the Democratic Party and the Country.

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