The Reagan/Bush (H not W) slate carried 49 of 50 states that year (and barely won Mondale's home state of Minnesota), but the trail had been blazed if you will, the toothpaste was out of the tube and a start had been made.
I'm not sure the former Governor of Alaska would be thrilled to have anyone suggest that without Congresswoman Ferraro there could have been no Sarah Plain and Tall, but I think you can make a good argument for that being the case. In many respects what we are now is what were when, and when Geraldine Ferraro was on the ticket with Fritz Mondale, we were a very different country-not better necessarily, just different. Cue Word: again.
From my perspective of 58 years and eleven months, the slightly more than a quarter of a century since that campaign raged has gone by in a flash and the issues of that time have paled in comparison to the ones now facing us. What may be lacking are leaders of substance and character-though there's a school of thought that suggests persons are forged by the crucible of events in their lives, so maybe we're closer to having those who have The Right Stuff than I should dare to hope.
I'm not always good at seeing where we're heading as a nation and I get confused sometimes by what's going on in the other lanes as we all struggle to read the map. The only certainties I have sometimes is that I still believe if you work hard enough and never give up, you can become the dream you've dreamed (all evidence to the contrary) and that the light's always red in the rearview. Thanks for making a few more of those green across this nation, Congresswoman Ferraro.
-bill kenny
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