There is no doubt in my mind that Congresswoman Ferraro meant exactly what she said and firmly believes it.  If we can understand where she is coming from, we might be able to see her point and see it as less of a racist reaction but more of a reaction of a person who knows what it is to be a token…whatever.  That was what she was when she ran with Walter Mondale.  How that plays with her mind is evident to me as she framed what she said.  And I sense that there may be bitterness that the woman candidate is not on top, but another ‘minority’.  She may even believe in the ‘concept’ thingie and that it should be Senator Clinton’s concept that we should be enamored with.  And a white man is not even invited to the concept party.

I think how we should react is with firmly saying that this is not what Senator Barack is about.   He is clearly qualified and in my mind, he is absolutely the better candidate.  It is Senator Clinton’s fault that she came into this race unprepared on day one.  It is her own fault that her campaign has been mismanaged and not giving the people a clear message like Senator Barack.  Do not blame the other person for Senator Clinton’s shortcomings.  Congresswoman Ferraro does not believe that which is fine, but with all this racist claims going about, it is a nice trap for us to fall in for the media’s benefit and it narrows this race down to black and white in stead of who is the better candidate.  This is the thing, the real thing.  The black and white thing is more explosive and more accessible to peoples’ emotions, while the subtly of ‘minorities’ clawing at each other for the spotlight goes missing.  There may be some resentment in some areas where they believe that Senator Obama is stealing this Presidential race from Senator Clinton who they think is due it.

So the media defines this moment and it plays to some peoples’ racial baggage that I believe is hindering us as a country and the message of Senator Obama.  After some thought from my first knee-jerk reaction, I admit that I was angry at the comment, but after some thought I believe that the Senator Obama’s campaign should frame this to show that he is better than Senator Clinton for President and it goes beyond race and gender-whose turn it is, etc.  My sense is that one of the reasons Senator Clinton is not doing as well as she might have thought she should be doing is that she came into this race with a sense of entitlement as well as having to deal with Senator Obama’s strategy for the 50 states campaign.  In addition the American people are desperate for a change after 16 years.  The people picked up on it and here we are today. His campaign has generally been run very tight and very impressively.  It shows.

Congresswoman Ferraro should know better than to say what she said.  But in the politics of gender and race, which is a world that I believe she lives in, it is the only way that she can see it.  Senator Obama’s campaign can use this to show why he is indeed a candidate for change and it would benefit him much more than taking what she said and dismissing it as only a racist remark.  That places into the media circus, out of his control and for them to spin it until it has solid legs and is walking side by side with him.