Obama adviser says Clinton must 'repudiate' backer's comments
Posted: 02:00 PM ET 
Ferraro is a supporter of Hillary Clinton.
(CNN) — A senior adviser to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign called on Hillary Clinton to “repudiate” a comment by one of her top fundraisers that Barack Obama would not be a major presidential contender if he were not black.
“I think if Sen. Clinton is serious about putting an end to statements that have racial implications,” Susan Rice, an Obama foreign policy adviser, told MSNBC Tuesday, “…then she ought to repudiate this comment.”
Former New York Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee in 1984, told the (Torrance, California) Daily Breeze that "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."
Ferraro, a member of Clinton’s finance committee and a top fundraiser, said the New York senator had suffered because the press "has been uniquely hard on her. It's been a very sexist media. Some just don't like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign."
"I was reading an article that said young Republicans are out there campaigning for Obama because they believe he's going to be able to put an end to partisanship,” she added. “Dear God! Anyone that has worked in the Congress knows that for over 200 years this country has had partisanship - that's the way our country is."
Ferraro could not be reached for comment, but Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson has said the campaign disagrees with her remarks.
– CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand
