Geraldine Ferraro

[Guinastasia]

@Lynn_Bodoni

She said that he wasn’t a good Christian because his policies hurt the poor. That sounds accurate to me.

He also wasn’t a really committed Christian – IIRC, he didn’t really go to church all that often.

[suranyi]

@etv78

The replies on her Yahoo obit were sickening!

At least half the replies on any Yahoo article are sickening, in my opinion.

[suranyi]

I think I still have a Mondale/Ferraro yard sign from the 1984 election. It must be quite a collector’s item.

[hajario]

@suranyi

I think I still have a Mondale/Ferraro yard sign from the 1984 election. It must be quite a collector’s item.

Something like that shouldn’t have much monetary value. They made millions of them and tons of them were saved because they’ll be worth something some day. There are already a few on ebay. One guy has two for an opening bid of $5.00 with no bites yet.

[amarinth]

I remember that election (I have vague memories of the 1980 election. Much more concrete memories of the 1984 one).

I was 10. I’d been raised with “Free to Be You and Me,” grown up in a title IX world, been told that I could be anything I want to be, that women could do anything that men could do, etc. etc. all of the standard 70s-style feminist stuff. And then she was nominated, and I heard people (people who up until that point I had thought of as “not insane”) seriously say, without any trace of irony, that women simply should not be President, women couldn’t handle it, and they weren’t going to vote for her. Not for her policies, not because of her party’s beliefs, just because of her ovaries.

I really wanted her to win, just to show them.

[suranyi]

@hajario

Something like that shouldn’t have much monetary value. They made millions of them and tons of them were saved because they’ll be worth something some day. There are already a few on ebay. One guy has two for an opening bid of $5.00 with no bites yet.

I was joking. The thing is made of cardboard. I’m just amused that I still have this souvenir of one of the worst election defeats in American history.

[SecondJudith]

@handsomeharry

she actually insulted either Reagan’s religion, or his belief/practice of that religion. That is petty and malicious, and has no place in American politics, esp. in the 80s.

I’m a bit confused by this. What’s wrong with this? And why is it worse to talk about it in a public forum than to use it as a private way to determine who gets your vote?

[What_Exit]

@ralph124c

I remember her…to me, she was just another NYC machine politician-mostly hot air.
But I have a question: during the campaign, it was suggested that her husband was connected with the NYC Mob.
Was her husband a mafia guy?

My understanding is that he was a crooked developer but then that is almost considered redundant in NY state. (Or my state for that matter.)

I campaigned for and voted for Reagan.(my first election.) I thought she was an unqualified stunt candidate used in a failed attempt against an extremely popular incumbent so the Dems said what the hack and rolled the dice. I’m not sure she was much more qualified then Palin politically but at least she did not pander to the dumb. Her addition to the ticket did little to help as Reagan had one of the largest margins of victory ever. But I think that was more about what a boring candidate Mondale was. The Democrats lacked a charismatic leader with some real political chops.

[Peremensoe]

@handsomeharry

I despise her. I don’t care what her politics are, she is/was a vile creature, IMHO.
There was some debate, or something, and she actually insulted either Reagan’s religion, or his belief/practice of that religion. That is petty and malicious, and has no place in American politics, esp. in the 80s.

This might be more compelling if we had the actual quote and context (“or something”) at hand. At least I’d be able to figure out whether I agree or disagree.

[Diceman]

@suranyi

At least half the replies on any Yahoo article are sickening, in my opinion.

The people who respond to any online news article (not necessarily Yahoo) tend to be the dregs of humanity. Maybe one person in 100 will have something intelligent to say, the rest will be pointless, or worse.

[DMark]

I remember thinking it was kind of cool they picked a woman to run as VP.
However, I was old enough to know it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
I voted for Mondale/Ferraro, but knew it was not going to happen.

At the time, she seemed like an intelligent, feisty person who wouldn’t put up with any BS. She handled herself well in her debate. And unlike other women who have run for VP, I believe she read newspapers and had a clue about world politics.

[a35362]

Hey, fellas? Could we stop using words like “spunky” and “feisty” when referring to women, please? It just seems oh-so-slightly patronizing to me.

[Peremensoe]

@a35362

Hey, fellas? Could we stop using words like “spunky” and “feisty” when referring to women, please? It just seems oh-so-slightly patronizing to me.

Get a load of the little lady. Isn’t she adorable?

[a35362]

I knew that was coming.

[Marley23]

Ferraro understood she was on the ticket because she was a woman. She still broke some very significant historical ground and it sounds like she conducted herself well as a candidate. Her comments about Obama and about voters who supported him were unfortunate (and you can see them in a more complete context here). I think it would also be unfortunate if that’s a significant part of how she’s remembered today because her nomination was so long ago. Here’s the New York Times obituary for Ferraro.

[handsomeharry]

@spark240

This might be more compelling if we had the actual quote and context (“or something”) at hand. At least I’d be able to figure out whether I agree or disagree.

Ha! If I had the quote, I would have quoted it!
Sorry, spark240, I can’t even remember what it was; I believe Lynn Bodoni has accurately summed it up, but, I won’t swear to it, since I can’t remember.

Best wishes,
hh

[handsomeharry]

@a35362

I knew that was coming.

Yeah, women’s intuition!

Best wishes,
hh

[handsomeharry]

@What_Exit

But I think that was more about what a boring candidate Mondale was. The Democrats lacked a charismatic leader with some real political chops.

Boring is it! He was the Democratic harbinger to John McCain.

Best wishes,
hh

[Peremensoe]

Okay, the quote on Reagan was,

@Geraldine Ferraro

The President walks around calling himself a good Christian, but I don’t for one minute believe it because the policies are so terribly unfair.

The context, as she explained it after criticism,

@Jane Perlez / NYT

Mrs. Ferraro, a Roman Catholic, said in an interview that she had been irritated at her first campaign stop after Walter F. Mondale designated her as his Democratic running mate when she saw signs that questioned how good a Catholic she was. ‘‘I guess that gets to you,’’ she said after attending mass at the Catholic church here. ‘‘You kind of turn around and say: ‘Don’t do that to me. If you’re going to do it, I’m not going to stand by and let you get away with it.’ That I may have to control.’’

Somewhat more interestingly to me… I hadn’t realized the level of overt pressure that was brought to bear to name a woman–any woman–VP candidate.

@perrspectives.com

Arriving at NOW’s national conference in Miami just two weeks before the convention, Mondale was “confronted with a sea of green lapel buttons bearing a terse message: ‘Woman VP Now.’” During his July 1, 1984 address, Mondale was interrupted not only by applause, but chants of “run with a woman” from an audience waving placards featuring the names of potential women running mates, including three-term New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro.
…
With just three dissenting votes, the organization overwhelmingly approved a resolution insisting a woman be nominated for Vice President from the floor of the Democratic Convention if Mondale chose a man as his running mate. Ferraro…“told the press that she would permit her name to be put into nomination as a ‘statement’ if no other woman was nominated.”

In that light, her derision, in similar terms, of both Jesse Jackson (in '88) and Obama is hard to justify. She was fine with insisting on the advancement of white women as identity candidates–but not black men.