ABOUT ME

 

Nick Ragone is an author, attorney and public relations executive in New York City. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Rutgers University, and is a graduate of the Eagleton Institute of Political Science at Rutgers University (undergraduate) and the Georgetown University Law Center.

He is the author of three books: Essential American Government, Everything American Government, and President's Most Wanted. Nick is a regular contributor to the Fox News Channel and Fox Business, the PIX11 Morning Show, and has a weekly appearance on the popular Raph Bailey Radio Show.  He co-anchored PIX11's five-hour live inauguration coverage with Jim Watkins and Kaity Tong.

Nick is a contributor to Donklephant.com, one of the most influential political blogs on the web, and  has written for US News & World Report, The Star-Ledger, Real Simple Magazine and RealSimple.com.  Nick has been quoted in over two dozen stories on politics, the presidency, and public relations.  In December of 2007, Nick was named one of PR Week's 40 under 40 to watch, and in May of 2008 was featured in "Profiles of Success", a book about public relations. Nick lives in Jersey City, NJ, with his wife and two children, and spends what little free time he has obsessing on the Mets.

Nick can also be found on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=740817853


Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Search
Subscribe
Powered by Squarespace

We are a member of...
Add to Technorati Favorites
BlogToplist.com  Politics Top Blogs

Blogcatalog.com Political Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory

Login
« The Spin-man Cometh | Main | Gas is cheaper than my haircut »
Saturday
15Nov

Five Questions for Geraldine Ferraro

In her penultimate speech as a presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton famously boasted of putting 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, a line that Sarah Palin parroted in her unveiling speech as John McCain's running mate.  In some ways, both were building on the legacy of former Democratic Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, who in 1984 became the first female candidate on a major party ticket when Walter Mondale chose her as his running mate.

Though unsuccessful in that bid, Ms. Ferraro has had a rich and storied career as a public figure -- one that has included stints as U.N Ambassador on Human Rights, co-host of CNN's "Cross Fire" program, author, lawyer, businesswoman, and most recently Fox News commentator. 

Not one to shy away from speaking her mind, the former three-term Congresswoman created a minor firestorm during the Democratic primary when she suggested that Barack Obama was being held to a more lenient standard than Hillary Clinton by the media because of his race -- a position she refused to retract, even in the face of intense media criticism.  She ultimately stepped down as a Hillary fundraiser, but continued to speak out against gender bias in the media.

Ms. Ferraro was gracious enough to spend a few minutes with me on the phone last week.

If you were Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, what's the one thing you would have done differently?


I would have paid more attention to the caucus states -- I wouldn't have ignored them. She should have started organizing early in the caucuses.


2. Do you think Sarah Palin has a future as a national candidate? What counsel would you give her if she was interested in running in 2012?

I debated Newt Gingrich last night ... he doesn't think she hurt the ticket in any way, in fact, before she was chosen he was pushing her and Governor Jindal for VP. I think there's going to be tremendous support for Palin in the future. I'm not sure if she'll remain on the national scene using her position as the Governor of Alaska, or if she finds a different role. She has to get away from the Tina Fey parody and show that she is someone serious about the issues. The one way she can do that is after Ted Stevens is sentenced and likely expelled from the Senate, she could run for his vacant seat (turns out the Govenror doesn't make appointments to open Senate seats in Alaska). She could learn the issues and I think she could be unstoppable.

3. What will be Barack Obama's biggest challenge in his first year in office?

No question, the economy. He'll have to find the right prescription for the economy. He won't have any problem selling it to Congress -- they're all in this together. If he's successful, it will be good for their midterm elections.

4. Do you have any thoughts/counsel on Obama's picks for Treasury and Defense?

I'm not impressed with Larry Summers for Treasury. President-elect Obama needs someone who can think outside the box -- these are huge problems we're facing. I think keeping Robert Gates on as Secretary of Defense would not be a bad idea. He seems to be rational guy who gets along with the military, and can take direction. Might not be a bad place for a Republican in the administration.

5. What do you want your lasting legacy in politics to be?

That I fought for human rights and women's rights my entire career. I'm proud of my time on the UN Commission on human rights, as well as my work at both the World Conference on Human Rights and the International Women's Conference in Beijing 1995, but I also worked on issues promoting human dignity as a prosecutor and certainly as a member of Congress. I think my life's work was about trying to make life a bit better for people.

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>