"We can't make John black, we can't make him a woman" ~ Elizabeth Edwards

[LisaM]

"In some ways, it's the way we have to go," Edwards says. "We can't make John black, we can't make him a woman. Those things get you a lot of press, worth a certain amount of fundraising dollars. Now it's nice to get on the news, but not the be all and end all."


I'm pretty sure this was the point Ferraro was driving at. Elizabeth Edwards, however, didn't get vilified for making this remark (at least not here, where she is pretty loved - I like her very much myself).

[mculator]

1. OMG!

Burn Hillary, LOL.

BO supporters will jump on anything that helps their candidate. Fools.

[Bucky]

2. What she didn't imply--what probably never occurred to her--was that Obama didn't deserve it

Elizabeth Edwards was acknowledging some inherent advantages John's opponents had by being such political pioneers. It's newsworthy. The gist of Ferraro's comments is that Obama didn't really earn his place on the ballot, that a white (read "normal") politician with that background couldn't be considered a serious contender. As if Obama's character doesn't matter; as if all you can know about his leadership is what we fit on a 3x5 index card.

This is inherently insulting. The fact that Clinton hasn't roped this spokesperson in yet tells me too much about the priorities of the Senator from New York.

[MagsDem]

6. He is pathetically unqualified

Now give me another explanation why the media acts as if he is.

[thevoiceofreason]

16. He has the best judgment of any democratic candidate in the last 20 years

[anamandujano]

24. That's why he's been in defense mode for days and pulls the race card

on anyone who dares to speak.

[JoFerret]

36. The Teflon candidate it seems

.

[JoFerret]

35. This is so true

Great guy though he may be.

[Demeter]

45. The only Qualifications for President Are Nativeborn and 35 years old

and Obama has much more than that to offer--unlike certain presidents I could name.

[elixir]

31. Huh?! You can spin this any way you want but Elizabeth Edwards was saying being black and/or a woman

afforded certain candidates an edge that caught the MSM. Political pioneers, what are political pioneers? Ferraro's question is would Obama be where he is today if he were green? I don't know - he's a great speaker and he has a great campaign so, yeah, he probably would be here today. But being black is certainly a factor in his success only because the MSM points it out every day.

[psychopomp]

40. That is right...Ms. Ferraro implied that Sen. Obama is not qualified and is getting a pass

due to his African heritage. There is a big difference between what Ms. Ferraro said and what Ms. Edwards said.

Ms. Ferraro needs to be publicly rejected by the Clinton campaign.

[Demeter]

44. Hear! Hear!

A classy campaign in the classic mold with classy people.

[Occam Bandage]

3. That's a bit different from "the other candidate is only popular because of their skin/genitals"

[MagsDem]

7. No one said that, liar

Why do you put it in quotes as if you are quoting someone when you're actually just pulling those words out of your ass?

[Occam Bandage]

10. Except for Geraldine "they're attacking me because I'm white" Ferraro. She's nuts.

[cali]

13. you've lost it. Of course that assumes you had anything

worth losing, and there's certainly no evidence of that. tacky, tacky, tacky.

[Bucky]

9. Um, candidates might be popular for their gender or sex. However...

Only in ancient Athens could you find candidates for public office who are popular because of their genitals.

[supersonica]

25. it's not different at all

Edwards implied that Obama and Clinton were popular because they were black and a woman, respectively.

That's even worse if you think about it, because she was racist and sexist at the same time.

[supersonica]

26. it's not different at all

Edwards implied that Obama and Clinton were popular because they were black and a woman, respectively.

That's even worse if you think about it, because she was racist and sexist at the same time.

[elixir]

32. That's exactly what Elizabeth IS saying, if JE were black or a woman he'd be further down the road.

[EffieBlack]

41. If John Edwards were black, he would not even be on the road

since he would never have been elected Senator from North Carolina in the first place.

[robertpaulsen]

4. Racist & Sexist! Am I right? How illuminating! I think you need a hug!

:hug:

[bunnies]

5. If she said that....

Its just as fucked up as when Bill Clinton said that about Hillary.

[karynnj]

8. She did get jumped on here FOR THE STATEMENT- if you look back at the threads -

It was that she is loved and respected that kept the discussion - for the most part - on the issue and not on her as a person.

You are right that she got a pass to some degree - but in real life - isn't that the way it is. There are people who earn teh right to say something stupid and immediately be forgiven as they have a huge amount of "credit" with you.

[anamandujano]

11. What she said was true, not stupid.

[karynnj]

14. It was politically inept and ignores that Edwards himself got

far more coverage in both 3004 and 2006 in the run up to the pre-primaries than his accomplishments - a one term Senator, recognized as a star - but with rather mediocre accomplishments - would dictate. Compare him to Dodd, Biden, and Richardson.

Her did as well as he did in 2004 because he was a media darling. What would be interesting is to figure out why they soured in 2007.

[anamandujano]

21. An Obamatron daring to bring up the idea of "accomplishments."

Careful. Glass houses and all that, ya know.

[karynnj]

43. Obama has more legislative accomplishments than Edwards

Here are three major accomplishments - one on ethics reform, that will help fight the corruption that Edwards spoke of needing to fight; one on national security; and one that improved civil rights. Show me comparable accomplishments in these areas by either Clinton or Edwards - I haven't seen them.

1) His contributions to ethics reform. "Given the reliance of many lawmakers on lobbyists as fund-raisers, the idea of requiring them to disclose their roles usually meets stiff resistance on Capitol Hill — all of it behind the scenes and almost none of it in public. House passage is far from assured, and its adoption by the Senate by a roll-call vote of 96 to 2 followed some backroom resistance among senators in both parties to allowing the idea to come up for a vote at all.

The Republicans who controlled the Senate last year refused to let it come up. And on Jan. 12, before the details of the proposal had been disclosed, Senator Charles E. Schumer, the New York Democrat in charge of his party’s fund-raising as head of the senatorial campaign committee, used a run-in on the Senate floor to deliver an angry rebuke to the disclosure idea’s lead sponsor, Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, several people present or briefed on the confrontation said.

In a subsequent conversation, Mr. Schumer said he worried that the proposal could cramp fund-raising by placing an undue burden on potential bundlers, said aides who were briefed and a lawmaker familiar with their talk, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the nature of the talks.

“Senator Obama has not been the most popular person in our caucus in the last couple of weeks,” said a Democratic aide involved in deliberations over the bill. Mr. Obama also this week started a bid for his party’s presidential nomination"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/20/us/politics/20ethics.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=Senate+ethics+reform+bill&st=nyt&oref=slogin

2) The Non-proliferation bill with Lugar - that extends Nunn/Lugar. This is an important bill on an important topic

3) In the Illinois Senate, he passed legislation that requires police to video tape interrogations - this is a major piece of civil rights legislation. Read this to see how he won on this battle even winning over the police. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303303.html

PS I am not an Obamatron, but still a Kerrycrat and a person willing to look at the records rather than chose based on personality or words (though Obama is very good on those!). I also supported Obama before Kerry's endorsement, though Kerry framed the arguments for Obama very well.

[ProSense]

12. So you're trying to find an excuse for a racist remark? Hillary should denounce Ferraro's remarks,

Ferraro needs to make public apology, and then Hillary needs to remove her from her campaign role.

[annie1]

15. i think she did reject the comment, but hasn't removed her. i wish she would have....

not only removed her but made a statement being pissed about it. it would have made people think highly of her. i think she missed the oppty. and when she finally removes her, which i suspect she will have to, it'll be too late for people. hil shoulda told her off.

[judaspriestess]

17. just give it a few and a certain candidates spammers

will be wishing for her cancer to kill her. Its unfortunate

[anamandujano]

22. I'm afraid you're right. Let's watch for them and they may, small possibility, but

may get tombstoned.

[Catherine Vincent]

18. When did she say this?

[PresidentObama]

19. Where were you? People were all over Elizabeth on DU over that.

[supersonica]

28. Was it all over the internet, TV and radio?

Thought so.

[PresidentObama]

29. Yes n/t

[sandnsea]

20. Oh I thought it was racist at the time

Any time I ever said a word about Elizabeth I got the hell beat out of me so I didn't do it very often.

[PresidentObama]

30. How is it racist? n/t

[sandnsea]

33. You're a white man with all the advantage

constantly talking about being the one who can win in the south -- and then you complain about your opponents race and sex???? Racist, sexist, and just plain low class.

[PresidentObama]

34. Advantage? The media orgasmed over the female vs. African American human interest story.

And John Edwards had the advantage?

Even when he lead in Iowa, the media and those in control gave him NO advantage.

[sandnsea]

38. Oh whaaa, he didn't get his "rightful" place

the white southern man who could save the Democratic Party by appealing to the racist tendencies of other white males, southern or otherwise, had to compete with the popular spouse of a popular president and the most charismatic candidate since RFK -- and all they can think to blame their lack of coverage on is race and gender. The fact that John Edwards is a lousy candidate couldn't possibly have been it, nah, it had to be race and gender. :eyes:

[frazzled]

49. Wrong: the media focused on the 2 candidates who were doing best--IN SPITE OF their race and gender

That was the story: that the two candidates running the best campaigns and who were ahead in state and national polls just happened, for the first time, to be a woman and a black man. They didn't do well because they were a woman and a black man, they were doing well in spite of said characterizations.

[supersonica]

23. Thread of the day

Very good memory, LisaM. This should be the best thread of the day.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

27. Excellent point... but then, Elizabeth Edwards isn't Hillary.

[Johnny__Motown]

37. one isolated event v. a pattern of race baiting every few weeks

[Yavin4]

39. She's Wrong, You Can Make Him Into A Woman

Just sayin.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

42. Elizabeth Edwards is being a racist.....she said Obama being "black"...omfuckingg!

[TheWebHead]

46. she was criticzed for the comment

but you have to realize at that point he had failed to make an impact as a frontrunner and all comments at that point were not in the eye of the hurricane that we're in now, without sharing headlines w/ the republicans, where the slightest misstatement dominates the entire news cycle for 2+ days.

[frazzled]

47. Many of us attacked this statement at the time

It was really as bad as Ferraro's: only it was aimed against both blacks and women, neither of whom have ever before in our nation's history enjoyed any kind of advantage because of their race or gender. Both Clinton and Obama were getting attention at the time because they were doing well in the polls, because they were running strong campaigns, because they had strong appeal to the voters--IN SPITE of the fact that they were a woman and a black man. And that was the story: in spite of--for the first time--not because of.

All you have to do is remember back to 2003 and 4, when John Edwards was running for the presidency. If it hadn't been for the fact that he was a white male with pretty hair and a supposedly energetic speaking style, he wouldn't have been where he was. He had next to no experience, absolutely no foreign policy or national security experience (he never even sat on a senate committee in either of those areas) and no public service prior to his senate candidacy. And a fairly anemic (and conservative) voting record. But did ANYONE ever say if he weren't white he wouldn't be where he is, or that he wouldn't be getting all that attention (did Mosely-Braun or Sharpton complain about that?). No, because being white is the NORM for some reason in this country: if you get attention and you are white, it is just normal. It is expected--you can write off the attention and appeal to your hair, your speaking style, your whatever--but not your race or gender. If you get attention and you are a female or black, it is somehow suspect, and then it is all about your race or gender, not your qualities. This is what we have to get over. This is what is sexist or racist about it.

[zulchzulu]

48. Actually that was a low point for Elizabeth

Bygones though... I hope she is doing well these days.

[MethuenProgressive]

50. Obama supporters: Elizabeth is a DU member, so don't call her what you called Geraldine.

That'd be against the rules.

[SeaLyons]

51. This is so true

....and at a time when electing the best qualified candidate is so important to our nation's future, the media, racial tension and sexism is intruding into our senses and guiding the direction of this nomination. I for one will make my decision based on who is best qualified.