The media swarm and pressure from Obama’s spokespeople and other supporters worked:
(CNN) – Geraldine Ferraro has stepped down from her role as a member of Hillary Clinton’s finance committee.
In a letter to Clinton obtained by CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux — who spoke with the former vice presidential candidate shortly after she sent it to Clinton — Ferraro said she is stepping down so, “I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign.”
In a phone conversation with Malveaux, Ferraro said she was not asked to step down by Senator Clinton or her campaign.
Ferraro said thousands of people are part of the finance committee, saying it is not a staff position, but a voluntary one for those who raise money for the campaign. She also said she has raised $125,000 for Senator Clinton.
When asked if she had any regrets about what she said, Ferraro replied, “absolutely not.”
“I am who I am and I will continue to speak up.” She added that she thought it was a shame that the Obama campaign was trying to block her First Amendment rights, and that she felt that was no way to conduct a campaign.
She said, “it’s not me slicing and dicing,” a reference to Obama’s comments earlier in the day accusing Ferraro of dividing the party.
Ferraro said David Axelrod, Obama’s campaign manager and an acquaintance, should have called her to ask her the intention of her remarks, which she says the Obama campaign used to hurt Clinton.
When asked how she felt about Hillary Clinton distancing herself from her remarks, Ferraro replied, “I am perfectly fine,” and that there were no hard feelings. She said she understands what Clinton is going through, and understands that being part of a presidential campaign is “very hard.”
A transcript of the short resignation letter she wrote to Clinton is at that same CNN link.
Dunno about ya’ll, but I’m personally getting sick and tired of all the calls for apologies, repudiations, resignations, denunciations, renunciations, etc coming from or being asked of the three candidates still standing in this race as it relates to comments coming from either their spokespeople or other supporters (latest example 1 and latest example 2). I’m surprised there isn’t already an “Apology Watch” website somewhere keeping track of how many times one campaign or another has done any or all of the above. It’s just getting silly.
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It’s becoming a political ploy.
1. Say something outrageous.
2. Get denounced.
3. Apologize and resign.
But the target audience remembers what’s said. It’s like when, say, a defense attorney asks a witness he knows the prosecutor will object to, and when she does, and the judge sustains the objection and tells the jury to disregard it, the defense attorney knows the jury will not discard it any more than you can stop thinking about an elephant on demand.
Arrrgh!
Comment by Leslie @ 3/12/2008 - 8:06 pm
Do you feel the same way about Senator Obama and Minister Louis Farrakhan’s comments praising him? Obama had to denounce him at one of the debates and in the media.
Just asking…
Comment by T-Steel @ 3/12/2008 - 8:16 pm
As if that isn’t silly enough the MSM is a part of it. Wait for the calls from the media supporters of whichever Dem wins,when McCain begins to call them on their past. The MSM will scream for apologies, resignations, and firings.
Ferraro was a shreaker in her run for the VP post. She figured she should be treated with kid gloves during the campaign. One of the few manly things GHWB did was take her to task during the campaign. And howl Ferraro did!
Comment by benning @ 3/12/2008 - 8:19 pm
T-Steel, if David Dukes praised John McCain I’d expect him to disavow it. And the media would make it front page for weeks.
Comment by benning @ 3/12/2008 - 8:23 pm
T-Steel, I thought the whole episode over the Louis F. endorsement was overblown, just like most “controversies” involving prominent supporters, whether those supporters have endorsed and/or are working/volunteering for the campaign or not. I’m content with what he said about the endorsement, though, because I know it was (and still is) a concern with Jewish voters, especially considering:
Obama’s close association with the Louis F.-praising Rev. Wright, though, an association that remains troubling to me for reasons I explained in this post. Wright and BO are not just affiliated politically - BO has a close relationship with Wright which goes back a number of years, and has cited him as a mentor and used his sermons as inspiration for one of his books as well as his 2004 keynote. He’s also admitted he seeks out Wright for political counsel. This is quite different just your average endorsement. This is a long term relationship.
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 3/12/2008 - 8:31 pm
For a guy who claims to transcend race, the Messiah sure plays the race card a lot.
But then He and His supporters just want to continue the national monologue on race relations.
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi @ 3/12/2008 - 11:10 pm