Clinton: A Day Late and A Dollar Short

News of Geraldine Ferraro's racially charged comment about Barack Obama came out on Wednesday. Although Hillary Clinton "regretted" the remarks, she did not immediately boot Ferraro from her Finance Committee. Ferraro (no doubt at the urging on the Clinton camp) stepped down. The press received and published her defiant resignation letter which has her essentially defending her assertion that Barack is where is his because he's a Black man. Hillary used an old political tactic. Rather than directly fire Ferraro and perhaps appear to be giving ground to Obama, Ferraro "resigned", supposedly taking her baggage with her.

Unfortunately for Clinton she did not forsee the media maelstrom that Ferraro's idiotic comments ignited. Yesterday, Clinton apologized to Black folks who may have been offended by Ferraro's comments. She also needed to apologize to the other folks who voted for Obama--Ferraro basically called them dupes. For many, Black and White her apology is too little, too late. Ferraro's comments coupled with Bill Clinton's husband's marginalization of Rev. Jesse Jackson's candidacy is about enough as some Black folks can stand. Trotting out Black women such as campaign manager Maggie Williams or long-time civil rights activist Mary Frances Berry to defend Ferraro did not AT ALL help matters.

Increasingly people are coming to believe that the Clintons are willing to do anything to win this election. If they are not inserting race into the dialogue, they are trying to change the rules so that Michigan and Florida delegates can be seated. People who are coming to this conclusion feel like they've already been through this scenario with George Bush. Seeing how his presidency has turned out they would rather not risk a repeat of that disaster by supporting Clinton. This growing sentiment is not good news for the Clintons or for the Democratic Party. Harvard professor Lawrence Bobb sums of these feelings in his article, Fairy Tale to Ferraro: Why I'm Not Voting for Clinton

If Clinton wins the nomination some folks may choose not to vote in the general election--- a small number of Democratics may even go for John McCain. On other hand, if Obama gets the nod, after such a divisive contest can folks like Ferraro and Clinton's other supporters swallow the loss and work to "unite the party?"

The Democrats machine better figure out a way to reign in the Clintons or be ready to sit on the sidelines for at least another four years under a President John McCain.