The Real Failure of the Clinton Campaign (and it’s not that she’s a white woman, Geraldine Ferraro!)

Early on in the campaign for the Democratic nomination, I leaned toward supporting Hillary Clinton. I had previously been pleased with the direction that Bill Clinton took the country during his administration and had appreciated her strength in her own right. Her policies, while not perfect are more than acceptable to me, and the notion of having a woman president was an attractive bonus. Plus, at the time, I knew next to nothing about Barack Obama.

A short while back, two things changed my mind about where my support belongs. The first was, ironically, Bill Clinton. His comments after the South Carolina primary were a slap in the face to all the African-Americans who have stood behind him through the years. The Clintons seem to think that they are entitled to have it both ways: that they should be buddy-buddy with the African-American community when it is convenient, but that they can also marginalize those same ‘friends.’ Jesse Jackson was invaluable to the Clinton household when President Clinton was in need of marriage counseling after the Lewinsky scandal, but then was basically brushed off as ‘the black candidate,’ and of no real consequence when Senator Obama won South Carolina, “Jesse Jackson won here in ’84 and ’88.” In other words, no big deal, a black candidate won there. Were his comments blatantly racist? No. Did he minimize Senator Obama’s impact by linking him specifically to an unsuccessful (only in terms of the presidential race) black candidate? I’d say so. Thanks for that, Mr. Former President. Does the Clinton campaign think the African-American community is not paying attention or that we are just not sophisticated enough to understand what’s going on here? Or perhaps the campaign is banking on the fact that no matter what she says or does to get the nomination, African-Americans will usually and consistently vote against the Republican nominee in a general election.

The second thing to sway my support was that I actually heard Senator Obama speak. I’ve not typically been one to obsess over the political scene, and I generally can’t stand listening to politicians blowing smoke rings around people’s heads. Senator Obama was different though. He immediately captivated me with his calm, yet impassioned charisma and his idealism. I actually listened to him for a straight forty-five minutes, and I was sold – not because he is a black man (as Geraldine Ferraro’s comments would suggest), but because he is a candidate who can inspire not only a party but (I believe) an entire nation. When the man speaks, people want to listen; they want to believe in something and belief goes a long way toward making things happen. All Senator Clinton seems to inspire, sorry to say, is an almost maniacal hatred among Republicans, and I don’t think she’d have a prayer against John McCain.

This brings me to Geraldine Ferraro’s comments: “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.” First, wow, what an embarrassing disappointment for democrats and women! As someone, a black woman, who previously supported Senator Clinton, I feel the need to make something clear. I do not support Barack Obama because he is a black man, and the man has achieved his position through hard work. It is disgusting and offensive to imply that his campaign has been boosted by Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action, if you even believe in such a thing, may open the door for a minority, but it certainly doesn’t make that person graduate magna cum laude from law school? That is the result of hard work and commitment, just like the rest of Senator Obama’s successes have been in this race. I support Senator Obama because he has a vision for what this country can be, because he hasn’t been so jaded by the political arena that he sneers at the power of hope, and because he isn’t so ruled by an overinflated ego and sense of entitlement that he’d gladly drag the Democratic party through the muck for his own gain. Shame on you, MS. Ferraro, and double shame on you, Senator Clinton for allowing racism to overshadow policy your campaign for the second time!

And are we also bringing sexism onto the playing field? Well, perhaps the way to defeat sexism and to change minds about the perceived weaknesses in the female gender isn’t to play to those weaknesses. While Ms. Ferraro’s comments followed Clinton campaign’s wins in Texas and Ohio, those victories did not narrow the margin in the delegate count nearly enough to save their sinking ship. Such divisive comments and the timing with which they are released make Senator Clinton appear at once catty and desperate. Is anyone supposed to really believe that the former president and the campaign member are acting of their own accord and that Senator Clinton isn’t at least condoning the behavior? These tactics do not say, ‘strong leader,’ to a voter like me. They say something more along the lines of, ‘spoiled, snotty, and entitled.’

If Senator Clinton really cared about the country and about the Democratic party, she’d run a cleaner campaign, and save the big guns for the more important contest – whether she becomes the nominee or not.