Geraldine Ferraro

There are two things I have to say in her memory.

First: I recollect fondly how Amy Thomson took her Mondale/Ferraro bumper sticker, cut it up, and repasted it the other way around.

Second: during the last election, when Republicans were insisting that Sarah Palin's vita qualified her for the vice presidency, I asked how they would feel if Obama had said this about McCain's choice:

I believe that someday we are going to have a woman president, possibly during my life, and I've often thought the best way to pave the way for this was to first nominate and elect a woman as vice-president. But I think McCain made a serious mistake when he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. In my view, he guessed wrong in deciding to take a governor that almost nobody had ever heard of and try to put her in line for the presidency ... I don't know who among the Republicans might have been a better choice, but it was obvious McCain picked Sarah Palin simply because he believed there was a "gender gap" where I was concerned and she was a woman.

Would they have considered that condescending and insulting? Well, it's a trick question, because with the names and office held changed, it's actually the comment in Ronald Reagan's memoir about Geraldine Ferraro.