Experts Expound

Geraldine Ferraro, a Clinton loyalist, says Barack Obama and his surrogates label as racist those who dare to criticize Obama. True? False? Or somewhere in between?

Good thing these are anonymous answers — or we’d all be racists in someone’s view. America needs a healthy discussion of race, but every comment, no matter how benign, gets blown out of proportion, just like Ferraro’s.

Somewhere in between. There are people in both campaigns who are skilled in wedge politics and the politics of fear. I do think the Obama folks need to stay on message. If you are arguing the politics of change, you can’t play in the fear sandbox.

In between. Obama’s people aren’t shy about playing the race card, but Ferraro’s the one who raised the issue here, not them.

False. That would absolutely be counterproductive for Obama …

I think the Clinton camp should be careful about employing the argument that Obama has “used” his race to protect himself from criticism. … And Ferraro should quit whatever role she has in the Clinton campaign and keep her mouth shut for the remainder of the nominating process. Her comments were gratuitous and obnoxious.

Ferraro is trying to make a point to benefi t Senator Clinton. She is playing the game, and Obama is playing the game. The Obama people are just playing it better right now.

If a Republican had said what Ferraro said, there would be a fi restorm. Bill Clinton set the stage for all of this with his Jesse Jackson reference in South Carolina.

It’s an easy brick wall to put up. You bet they do. There are many ways to inject racism into a political campaign, and one of the more insidious is to suggest that legitimate criticism of an ethnic candidate is racist on the face of it. I do not know if Obama has made this claim, but it is not in his best interests to do so.

The Clinton and Clinton surrogate attacks on Obama aren’t racist. … They are just hardball politics. The gamble is that all will be forgiven in the fall.

The people from whom we sought opinions: Andrew Acosta, A.G. Block, Mark Bogetich, Barry Brokaw, Morgan Crinklaw, J. Dale Debber, Peter DeMarco, Jim Evans, Kathy Fairbanks, Jeff Fuller, Rex Frazier, Ken Gibson, Evan Goldberg, Deborah Gonzalez, Sandy Harrison, Bob Hertzberg, Jason Kinney, Mike Madrid, Nicole Mahrt, Steve Maviglio, Adam Mendelsohn, Barbara O’Connor, Bill Packer, Kassy Perry, Jack Pitney, Adam Probolsky, Tony Quinn, Matt Rexroad, Matt Ross, Roger Salazar, Dan Schnur, Will Shuck, Ralph Simoni, Sam Sorich, Ray Sotero, Gary South, Kevin Spillane, Rich Zeiger.