Favorable or Unfavorable #286: Geraldine Ferraro

[vcczar]

Geraldine Ferraro (D-NY) was a moderate Democrat in a state becoming increasingly more liberal, which explains her US Senate defeat in 1992. For the most part, Ferraro is a little short on accomplishments. I think she was the VP pick in 1984 for a few reasons that had little to do with ability: 1) She was a woman; 2) She's from New York; 3) She's Italian-American; 4) She's Catholic; 5) and She had close ties to Speaker O'Neill. She didn't rock the boat in the way Hillary Clinton would later. She was sort of a hail mary for Mondale trying to beat an undefeatable Reagan. At least Mondale can say he had the first major ticket with a woman on it. 

I'm not sure what Ferraro's stance on race is, but it's a little worrying that she opposed busing (as the majority of Southern Democrats and suburban Republicans did) and was known for harsh attacks on both Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama, who are obviously black. I'm not the first person to tie all of this together in relation to her. It could just be coincidental. 

Her actions:

Ferraro, Geraldine	1979	a new woman member becomes a protege to Tip O'Neill
Ferraro, Geraldine	1982	On Hunt Commission and helped come up with the idea of superdelegates in Dem primaries
Ferraro, Geraldine	1984?	Breaks w/ Dems in supporting anti-busing Amendment to the Constitution
Ferraro, Geraldine	1984	Demo nominee for VP, first woman VP nom of a major party
Ferraro, Geraldine	1992	Upset defeat in Dem primary for US Sen seat after being the frontrunner
Ferraro, Geraldine	2008	One of the earliest supporters of Clinton; criticized for overly harsh comments on Obama

[vcczar]

She has only 1 action I like; 1 that I have no reaction to; the rest I don't like. Aside from obvious dislikable things, I don't like superdelegates. I know who likes them but establishment people who get to be superdelegates or who are likely to be supported by them. It takes the Democracy out of Democrats. 

[Pringles]

1 hour ago, vcczar said:

I'm not sure what Ferraro's stance on race is, but it's a little worrying that she opposed busing (as the majority of Southern Democrats and suburban Republicans did) and was known for harsh attacks on both Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama, who are obviously black.

To be fair, most of the country by and large was opposed to busing. Even non-racists. I can understand strong attacks on Jesse Jackson as well. Not so much of Obama. Maybe she was attacking him over inexperience, or identity politics? Maybe out of sheer loyalty to fellow female Hillary? Guess we'll never know.