POWIP Piece of Work In Progress – Former Abode of Dan Collins

Reflections on Ferraro

I was 10 years old in 1984, and my memories of the campaign are from a liberal perspective.  Growing up in a 2nd generation union family, we were at least third generation Democrats; so our support was 100% behind Mondale and Ferraro.  I remember the big deal that was made about Ferraro being the first woman on a major party ticket, and I remember the bitter disappointmet I felt when they lost to Reagan.  As far as I knew, Reagan was just a "Union Busting S.O.B." (a button my grandpa let me buy at a flea market that my mother promptly made me return said as much) with whom the Soviets would refuse to negotiate.

Remember, I was 10 and my Grandpa's word was golden to me.  If he'd told me the earth was flat, I would have simply asked him where it stopped and made a note-to-self not to go there.

Grandpa died in 1992, and while he is the one person whom I've lost that I truly miss, I've since learned that, indeed, Reagan was a Union Busting S.O.B., and rightfully so.  I've learned that his hard stance against the Soviets was instrumental in our Cold War victory.

All that aside, I developed a distinct respect for Ferraro in 2008, when she spent quite a bit of time pointing out the unfair treatment Hillary was getting from the pro-Obama liberal press.  Liberal or not, right or not, the woman called it as she saw it; and credit is deserved for that.  She also deserves credit for jumping off the liberal bandwagon and defending Palin when she could have easily made more friends and headlines by criticizing Palin as the only other woman to be on a major national ticket.

RIP Geraldine Ferraro.

Adam Wells

Living life at 84 mph and 7000 feet. All I ask is that you don't block traffic, act like a professional, and don't act all surprised when your actions have consequences. Oh, and don't complain about the refs; trust me, they don't care if your team wins or not.