An Interview with Ferraro

On the joys and challenges of her unprecedented candidacy

CONVENTION. Between strategy meetings with Walter Mondale and work sessions with aides who are drafting her acceptance speech, Geraldine Ferraro took time last Saturday afternoon to meet with TIME Correspondent John F. Stacks. Savoring the sun on the deck of a rented Lake Tahoe resort home, Ferraro was relaxed and jocular and occasionally complained about the inevitable "sexist" questions. Her husband John Zaccaro and her daughters Laura and Donna sat near by and sometimes interjected thoughts of their own. Excerpts from the interview:

Q. Did you despair over press reports that you had flunked your interview with Mondale and were not going to be his choice?

A. No. 1 spoke to Fritz Mondale on Sunday morning [July 8], and I was certain that he had not put out that story about our interview. I was also certain that I was still seriously being considered. He told me so. And he's a very honest man.

Q. What was your reaction to the call from Mondale with word of your selection?

A. I was honored and excited and a little bit emotional about the historical meaning of the whole thing. It was not only that it was Gerry Ferraro, but also that it was a woman. And, God, delight!

Q. Even before your selection, Mondale was seen as an underdog in the general election campaign. Polls show mixed reactions to the idea of a woman on the ticket. Do you feel an added burden as a woman?

A. I don't feel like I'm carrying the burden for anything other than doing my job as a candidate for Vice President well--and then doing my job as Vice President well. That's the only responsibility I feel. Walter Mondale is a very strong candidate. I don't have to carry his candidacy. He'll carry it for himself. He's right on the issues, and Ronald Reagan's record is there for Reagan to defend.

Q. There is always the danger in a campaign of gaffes and serious errors. Do you worry about making mistakes and setting back other women in politics?

A. Those are always thoughts that go through your mind. But I'm not concerned about that. We're going to win.

Q. Is it going to be a difficult transition from being an independent member of Congress to being in the No. 2 position on the ticket?

A. I suspect that one of the reasons I was selected is because I deal honestly with the problems that face this nation and because I care. I don't think you're going to see a change in that. I think what you're going to see is that perhaps the free-spirited approach will be done more privately when it comes to discussing issues. I recognize what the job of Vice President is, and I intend to work with Walter Mondale very closely in order to fulfill his commitment to his policies. I don't fudge on issues, and I'm not going to fudge on issues now. How do I deal with being second? What does that mean? Does it mean I have to be No. 1? I like being second in a universe this size. It's as good as being No. 1! Actually, I don't think I'm going to be second: I'm going to be the first Vice President to enjoy being a woman.

Q. One thing you're up against, surely, is the old-fashioned notion that a woman's role is to help the man. Will the stereotype of woman as helpmate complicate your candidacy?

A. Why should it? Walter Mondale sees the vice presidency as he experienced the office himself. He redefined the vice presidency. He had his office in the White House. He was an adviser on every issue that came up. I'm not going to be sitting around knitting--if that's what anybody thinks. The job will not be redefined again because I'm a female. I ain't going to be any helpmate.

Q. Some polls show resistance to your candidacy among Southern White men. How do you intend to deal with that problem?

A. I intend to go down South and spend a lot of time talking to some of the traditional men. I've been down to Birmingham, to Houston, to Oklahoma and North Carolina. After we talked to the Southern chairs [regional party leaders] this week, the only argument among them was where I should go first--not whether I should come. People have been really receptive. In my district I was told I was going to have trouble with Italian men. Now they're my biggest supporters.

Q. Even though women have led other nations, the prospect of a woman President still makes some people--women as well as men--anxious. Why are there concerns?

A. There are, of course, concerns, but that is often because it's not been done before. We had anxieties about Catholics until John F. Kennedy was elected President. There were anxieties about whether a divorced male could deal with the presidency, and Ronald Reagan has dispelled that. We always have anxieties until we do it the first time, and then we usually recognize that those anxieties are baseless. This is a first, and it's bound to create concerns; but we are going to put those concerns to rest quickly.

Q. If your candidacy is successful, there will be the immediate possibility of your being called upon to lead the nation. Are you ready?

A. I think it is an almost awesome responsibility, but it is one I'm capable of handling, or I would have never allowed my name to be considered for this spot. I think I am a person who has good moral background, integrity, intelligence and the capability to make judgments based on facts. I think I am capable of analyzing situations without moving in any sort of precipitous way. Could I lead the country? Yeah. The job of Vice President prepares someone for the job of President. My role as Vice President will help prepare me.

Q. You have two daughters. Does that give this breakthrough special personal significance for you--and for them?

A. Every door I open means that they're not going to be discriminated against, and it's going to be a little bit easier for them.

Q. Beyond the meaning for you personally, does your selection have the potential of producing broader social and cultural change in this country?

A. I hope it does change the way the country works, and I think there are a lot of women out there who hope so as well. It's not only Gerry Ferraro being Vice President and how I deal with the job--it's really opening so much more to young women in this country, as well as to older women and working women. If a woman can be Vice President of the U.S., what job is there that a woman cannot do? I think that's important. The other piece of it is that it creates a whole new role model. There are a lot of women out there saying, when they see me, "I can do it too."