Gotcha Politics
Mar 12th, 2008 at 1:29 pm by Susie
From gryfalcon in the comments at Open Left:
I wonder if Chris or anybody else here has listened to what Ferraro has to say about it. Here’s the video on TPM of her discussion– (sorry, no clue how to make this a link, so if anybody can do it, please do!)
I think we all ought to have learned by now not to take a reporter’s characterization of what somebody said, or a brief sound bite, for the gospel truth or the complete story. What Ferraro has to say is considerably more nuanced, and includes the flat-out statement that she herself would never have been nominated, or come close, for VP if she wasn’t a woman.
She also asserts vehemently that she is in no way a “surrogate” for Clinton, that the interview had to do with something totally unrelated to Clinton, and that she has zero role in her campaign except to raise money, which she will continue to do whether she’s officially a member of whatever finance committee, which is no more than an honorary title, she’s on or not.
We all need to slow the hell down.
Given the current environment, she was more than foolish to let the thought pass her lips, however true it might be. But we all need to stop and think how much sense it actually makes to keep yelling “racism” at one good Democrat after another.
You want to know what I think? That’s what I think.
So, you are officially condoning her remarks because of nuanced content?
Nice.
Ah, you finally got your “gotcha!” Which is all you ever wanted, anyway. Welcome to the “new politics” of Obama.
What I said was, she’s going to have to learn that she can’t say much of anything that won’t endanger his campaign. I also wrote about how very difficult it is to control what surrogates say. And your point is?
Clinton campaign sorry about all that black stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SDHxaYhqA
Sure, there’s a possibility that the soundbite reading of Ferraro’s comments (OMG! She said he’s lucky to be black!) is a little unfair, but in this case that doesn’t necessarily detract from the total stupidity of her remarks. “I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white” is really the lowest kind of reactionary bullshit; it’s so easy to imagine it coming out of Limbaugh’s mouth.
well, the ferraro video gryfalcon linked to was not ferraro’s original comments. instead it was her after-the-fact explanation for them.
but putting that aside, i do think the ferraro thing has turned into a stupid gotcha moment. just like the michelle obama comment was a stupid gotcha moment and the “periodically” kerfuffle was too.
call me naive, but i don’t think either of the two democratic candidates are sexist or racist. some of their supporters might be, but they’re not responsible for that. and in this race where sexism and racism is in the air pretty much constantly, and where there are literally thousands of people who can be deemed “surrogates”, it’s very easy for each side to play the gotcha-sexism! and gotcha-racism! game.
You know, Cheney’s Ass, this is type of behavior is what is turning off a lot of non-AA people of color to the Obama campaign. There’s a whole shitload of racism out there, some of it even aimed at non-blacks. But all that gets lost when you guys fucking nitpick and parse every word, every action. When was the last time you trotted your Cheney’s Ass over to some lefty blogger who cheers for the Washington R*dskins? Or equated Indian casinos with corrupt politicians?
Kossacks had no problem blaming racist Latinos and Asians for Obama’s losses in California, Arizona and Texas - I was watching the threads myself as they developed. No one is safe from your witchhunt.
You know, if “one good Democrat after another” would simply stop saying stupid shit that can easily be interpreted as racist, maybe the reaction would abate as well. And maybe the definition of “good Democrat” could use a tweak.
What mbw said.
Perhaps I would have felt different about Ferraro’s remarks had they been followed by a genuine apology like Samantha Power.
Perhaps I would feel differently if Bubba hadn’t blown off Obama’s win in SC by bringing up Jackson.
And here is Geraldine Ferraro’s letter of resignation to Hillary:
Notice how she is STILL blaming the Obama campaign.
This was all staged to remind those “Alabama” Pennsylvanians that Clinton was running against a black man.
I’ve seen this brand of campaign before, only Karl Rove was at the helm.
If Ferraro said what’s been attributed to her, then she was politically stupid for certain, and also has a rather strange view of the political landscape. Obama’s where he is because he’s black??? Say what?
Yeah, sure, because there’ve been so many black candidates leading the presidential field preceding him. And so many black presidents before him as well. Not. Obama’s gotten where he is because he’s a very skilled politician and one of the better political orators we’ve had (kinda reminds me of Bill Clinton in this way, as others have observed).
I actually worry about both Barrack and Hillary in the general election, simply because every president we’ve ever had has been a white male of northern European descent … like John McCain. Have we changed enough demographically to elect a black man or a white woman? I sure as hell hope so! But I think both candidates are where they are because they’re savvy politicians, not primarily because of their race or gender. Ferraro has her head up her ass.
I should add that Ferraro’s very possibly not naive enough or out of touch polirically enough to really beieve that Obama’s where he is because of his race. And so it is conceivable that this is some sort of political gambit on her part, putting out a talking point for people to latch onto. But I can’t claim any real knowledge on this, so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and just reiterate that it was a very stupid comment for her to make.
And so it is conceivable that this is some sort of political gambit on her part, putting out a talking point for people to latch onto.
macjazz, see this kevin drum post. if it was a dogwhistle, it was an extremely stupid one.
it seems to me like every five seconds one side or another in this race is crying “dogwhistle!” whenever anyone says something stupid. well guess what? when each candidate speaks publicly every single day. plus they each have thousands of supporters (many of which could be called “surrogates”) it really isn’t hard to find some stupid phrasing that can be presented as a dogwhistle. and each time, the dogwhistle charge, no matter how flimsy, is considered to be 100% credible to one side and 100% nonsense to the other.
i think the whole thing is ridiculous. everyone just sees what they want to see in these controversies. if you’re predisposed to dislike one candidate, you believe everything bad against them. but if you’re predisposed to like the candidate, the entire charge just seems preposterous. i’m gonna state flat out that i think pretty much every dogwhistle charge in this race so far has been preposterous. another reason that i can’t wait for this silly season to be over.
let’s remember that we had a white male candidate in the race, John Edwards, who ran a good campaign. and we have a woman in the race, her name is Hillary Clinton. so saying that Barack Obama is only where he is because he’s black is untrue and disrespects all that he has accomplished. we do have some good black politicians, but so far none of them have been handed a free ride to the presidency, so I guess being black isn’t an instant ticket to success. who would have thought? Barack Obama deserves credit for being sucessful in politics and inspiring people who had dropped out to get back in and vote.
lets try an experiment…
Pretend HRC is winning the campaign and by all realistic estimates can not be defeated except with the very unlikely event of OB swaying SuperD’s and then lets say Oprah comes on Larry King one night and says “HRC is where she is for two reasons only: married to Bill and she’s a white woman”. Next day the blogs are buzzing, msm and talking heads are all bobbing up and down and then Oprah goes on Charlie Rose, Travis(?) and the Today Show and repeats her opinion and says “I was selected to host a successful talkshow and own a hit magazine and production company only because I am a black woman and everyone should realize that HRC wouldn’t be where she is today if she wasn’t a white woman married to a former president”.
What would the Clinton supporters do? What would we expect OB to do? What would we expect Oprah to do? I know it is not a perfect comparison but if a nOB supporter (well respected, etc) would bring up sexism as the reason HRC is where she is how would that go over with the clinton crowd…
You mean, like when Chris Matthews announced she was only in the race because her husband cheated on her? And everyone said, “Yeah, he’s right!”
You mean, like that?
Matthews isn’t a famous, well-respected OB supporter.
nice try.
oops…many duplicates…sorry…not sure how that happened.
So. Did anybody see Olbermann’s HIllary smackdown on this very subject tonight? Maybe Susie will post it.
9weldon berger
You know, if “one good Democrat after another” would simply stop saying stupid shit that can easily be interpreted as racist, maybe the reaction would abate as well.
amen!
And being black is a plus as a candidate!?
It’s a new world, huh?
I think I know what she meant, that it makes him a “special” candidate, but please.
.
As I said, I’ll give Ferraro the benifit of the doubt and just leave it that she said something very stupid. It’s hard to believe she’s really that clueless, but we all have our moments I guess.