In late August, she released a detailed financial disclosure statement and faced the national media. She earned favorable reviews for her responses to 90 minutes of often hostile questioning ("Ferraro passes a vital test," went a cover line in Time) but her candidacy never recovered.
In September, Ferraro began fending off attacks on a new front. New York's Archbishop O'Connor lashed out at her stand on abortion rights and said she had misrepresented church teachings on abortion. He even held open the possibility of excommunication. Anti-abortion and abortion-rights groups clashed at her rallies.
The Italian American community did not rise to her defense, even when other critics attempted to smear her with allegations of underworld dealings. Some commentators decried the sexism they said was fueling the attacks. Noting the silence of the Italian American community, syndicated columnist Richard Reeves observed: "The stoning of Geraldine Ferraro in the public square goes on and on, and no one steps forward to help or protest -- not even one of her kind?. The sons of Italy and fathers of the Roman Catholic Church are silent or are too busy reaching for bigger rocks?. Heresy! Mafia! Men are putting women in their place."
Ferraro did well when she faced then-Vice President George H.W. Bush in debate. He ignored her request that she be addressed as "Congresswoman," however, and called her "Mrs. Ferraro" instead. Shortly before the debate, she was insulted by Barbara Bush who called her "that four-million-dollar -- I can't say it, but it rhymes with 'rich.' " (Ferraro and Zaccaro's net worth had been reported at $3.8 million.)
She was discouraged by news coverage that she felt rarely reflected the enthusiasm and massive crowds she encountered on the campaign trail. "They were far less interested in what I had to say about the life-and-death issues facing the nation than they were about what I was wearing, how I looked that day, whether or not I cried, and what was happening in my marriage," she recalled in her memoir.
Reagan, one of the most popular presidents in history, wound up with an 18-point victory, aided in part by women, who supported him in greater numbers than they had the Mondale-Ferraro ticket. Post-election analyses found that Ferraro had neither greatly helped nor hindered the Democrats' chances.
What later became clear to Ferraro was how ambivalent the electorate -- particularly women -- had been about her candidacy.
Those attitudes led Ferraro to make a controversial appearance in a 1991 commercial for Pepsi-Cola, in which she endorsed being a mother over being in politics. Feminists shouted betrayal.
The commercial apparently did little to bolster her chances the following year when she ran for the Democratic nomination for Senate. She lost the 1992 Democratic primary and again in the 1998 primary, her last bid for elected office.
Fatigued after the primary, she went for a medical checkup and was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
She was determined to remain active despite the ups and down of her health. At President Clinton's request, she served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. She found a forum for her views on television as the liberal co-host of CNN's "Crossfire" and as a Fox political analyst. In 2004, she helped found grannyvoter.org with other female activists in their 60s to encourage grandparents to become politically involved. She also worked for a number of lobbying firms.
Later, Ferraro was a feisty advocate for Hillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, garnering criticism for remarking during the heated 2008 primary season that Obama had an advantage because he is black. The remark was perceived as racist, and in the ensuing controversy, Ferraro resigned from her voluntary position on Clinton's campaign finance committee, but she did not back away from her view of how race and gender were playing out in the campaign.
"Sexism is a bigger problem" than racism in the United States, Ferraro told the Daily Breeze in the March 2008 story that made her a liability for the Clinton campaign. "It's OK to be sexist in some people's minds. It's not OK to be racist."
She harbored no regrets at having tried to become the first female vice president, despite how grueling the struggle was. What women needed to remember, she told an interviewer in 2004, was a simple fact of politics: "If you don't run, you can't win."
In addition to her husband and three children, Ferraro, who lived in New York City, is survived by eight grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.
elaine.woo@latimes.com
