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.