Ferraro steps down from Clinton campaign
Former congresswoman and vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro is resigning her fundraising position with Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign after controversial comments she made about Clinton's rival, Sen. Barack Obama. "I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign," Ferraro wrote in a letter to Clinton. "The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won't let that happen." Ferraro told CNN she sent the letter to Clinton Wednesday afternoon. Ferraro stirred controversy with her recent remarks that Obama's campaign was successful because he was black. She told CNN's Suzanne Malveaux Wednesday that she was "absolutely not" sorry for her comments. "I am who I am and I will continue to speak up," she said. The former congresswoman also criticized the Obama campaign for efforts she characterized as trying to block her First Amendment rights.startclickprintexclude--> Ferraro -- who said she raised about $125,000 for Clinton's campaign -- said she was not asked to step down by Clinton or her staff. Ferraro added she understands why Clinton distanced herself from her remarks, saying she was "perfectly fine" with that and that there were no hard feelings. Ferraro told CBS' "The Early Show" that she would not stop raising money for the New York senator's presidential bid. She also blamed Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, for misinterpreting her remarks. Ferraro also told ABC's "Good Morning America" that "every time" someone makes a negative comment about Obama, they are accused of racism. Late Tuesday, she told an interviewer that she felt she was being attacked because she was white. "Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up," she told the Daily Breeze of Torrance, California. "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?" In her first interview with the Daily Breeze, published late last week, Ferraro said: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." She also said Clinton had been the victim of a "sexist media." Obama responded Wednesday to Ferraro's comments, saying "I think that her comments were ... ridiculous. ... I think they were wrong-headed. I think they are not borne out by our history or by the facts." "The notion that it is a great advantage to me, an African-American named Barack Obama, in pursuit of the presidency I think is not a view that has been commonly shared by the general public," he said during a campaign event at the Chicago History Museum. "Divisions of race, gender, of region are precisely what has inhibited us from moving effectively forward to solve big problems like health care, energy, the war on terror," he said.startclickprintexclude--> Obama has faced his own headaches. Foreign policy adviser Samantha Power ended her connection with his campaign last week after telling a Scottish interviewer that Clinton was a "monster." Power also made remarks about Obama's Iraq war policy that were used by the Clinton campaign in recent attacks. |
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