Henry Clay once famously said "I'd rather be right than President." Walter Mondale was just a couple of decades ahead of his time when he named lightweight New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate in 1984. They went on to lose 49 states to Ronald Reagan as he was re-elected to his second term as President.
The depth and quality showed, as Geraldine Ferraro largely dropped out of sight these last 24 years. Her husband was tried and convicted on real estate fraud charges in New York and spent a few nights in the Crossbars Hotel. Ferraro was passed over for a cabinet post or other significant position in the eight years of the Bill Clinton administration.
She has suddenly resurfaced, campaigning as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton in California. She opined, in the course of her campaigning, that if Barack Obama was white, with his lack of experience, he would not be seriously considered for the presidency. As the national media picked up on it, Ferraro has been roundly blasted as a racist and hatemonger.
It's reminiscent of when George Lodge was running against Ted Kennedy for his first term in the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, while his brother JFK was president. Lodge said "If your name was Edward Moore (his middle name), your candidacy would be a joke." While roundly criticized at the time, as Teddy was elected handily at the age of 28 to replace his brother in the Senate (where he still serves today), it was true then, just as Ferraro's Obama remark is true today.
America has put such a premium on political correctness--particularly on racial matters--that even a genuine liberal like Geraldine Ferraro cannot dare speak the truth.
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