To this day, the Willie Horton commercial, a bit of political theater conjured up by George H.W. Bush's presidential campaign against Michael Dukakis in 1988, stands as a leading example of exploiting racial fears in the name of political gain.
Many Democrats, it seems safe to say, never expected that a Democrat, let alone Hillary Clinton, would use a similar tactic. Yet Geraldine Ferraro, a member of Clinton's finance committee, and the party's historic 1984 VP candidate, appears to be taking part in a calculated effort to exploit the undercurrent of racial prejudice in American life.
Let's look at her orginal remarks:
"I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama's campaign - to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against," she said. "For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It's been a very sexist media. Some just don't like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign.
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she continued. "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." Ferraro does not buy the notion of Obama as the great reconciler.
In an interview with Fox News, Ferraro basically reiterated her main talking point, disingenuously asserting that she is not a surrogate for the Clinton campaign, and playing to misplaced white resentment about Obama and sub rosa issues such as affirmative action.
" 'Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up,' Ferraro said. 'Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?'...
I think Obama strategist David Axelrod is on the money here (h/t the Page):
"When you wink and nod at offensive statements, you're really sending a signal to your supporters that anything goes."