In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro made a brave and pathbreaking bid for vice president — and bombed. Today, polls show that most voters are ready to send a woman to the White House. We asked Ferraro for her thoughts on this prospect.
What has changed since 1984?
We’ve come a long way. [Having] Madeleine Albright handling foreign policy raises the bar. People are used to seeing women in those positions now.
Did your run help that process?
It’s not so much me. It’s not my candidacy so much as the candidacy. Any number of women could have done precisely the same thing.
Do you regret coming on the scene too early?
The only regret I have is that my state [New York] did not have…laws [that] would have allowed me to run for my congressional seat and vice president at the same time. I would have remained in Congress, which is what I really wanted to do, but I had to give up my seat.
