Word: ferraro
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...campaign waged by Ferraro was unique in ways both small and large. She was doubtless the only serious contender for Vice President ever to have been presented with a wrist corsage before speaking at a fund-raising dinner (she firmly declined to wear it), or to have had to apologize for the lipstick smears left on babies held up for campaign busses. She was probably the least-known candidate chosen for the No. 2 spot on a major party ticket since Barry Goldwater picked another relatively obscure New York House member, William Miller, as his running mate in 1964. Unlike...
Another of Ferraro's strengths turned out to be a star-quality ability to attract crowds, which were consistently larger than forecast in her many miles of travel: 15,000 in Seattle; 18,000 in Atlanta; 50,000 in Amherst, Mass. In fact, stop for stop, she frequently outdrew Mondale. That was doubtless due in part to the novelty of her candidacy, but Ferraro also became a consummate pro at working audiences, acknowledging chants of "Gerry! Gerry!" with a rakish wave and confident smile...
...Ferraro was less successful with the leaders of her own Roman Catholic Church. She was publicly criticized by New York Archbishop John J. O'Connor, among others, for her stance supporting free choice on abortion. Personal acceptance of the church's strict antiabortion teachings was not enough, they said; Ferraro was also obligated to press for their public acceptance. The clerical confrontation, which could not help but cost votes, was all the more galling to Ferraro's staff because it appeared to them to be inspired by the candidate's sex. Says an aide: "Teddy Kennedy had the same position...
...Ferraro insisted on facing the abortion issue head on. In Congress, she said, she represented not only Catholics but non-Catholics who were not morally opposed to ending unwanted pregnancies medically. As for the criticism of Catholic officials, she said, "My church doesn't speak for me, and I don't speak for them...
...bishops chose not to press the dispute, but it continued to hound Ferraro in the form of antiabortion hecklers. In handling their taunts, she demonstrated mettle as well as crowd-pleasing adroitness. When pro-Reagan and antiabortion demonstrators erupted noisily at the University of Texas in Arlington, Ferraro shouted, "If I had a record like Ronald Reagan's, I wouldn't want anybody to hear about it either." At another point she silenced hecklers by poking fun at her own staccato delivery: "You've figured out how to stop this New Yorker from talking too quickly...