Just 37% of American voters have a favorable opinion of Geraldine Ferraro. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 50% have an unfavorable opinion of the first woman nominated to run for Vice President of the United States. Among African-American voters, just 14% have a favorable opinion and 78% have an unfavorable view.

Ferraro created controversy recently when she told a newspaper that "if Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position."

Twenty-seven percent (27%) of American voters agree with Ferraro’s statement while 59% disagree. Just 9% of African-American voters agree with Ferraro. Republicans are evenly divided about her comments while Democrats disagree with Ferraro by a 68% to 19% margin.

Nationwide, 30% of voters believe that Ferraro’s comments were racist while 52% said they were not. Fifty-one percent (51%) of African-Americans believe the comments were racist and 53% of white voters disagree.

However, while rejecting Ferraro’s comments about Obama, voters overwhelming believe the media has favored the Illinois Senator over Hillary Clinton. Sixty-one percent (61%) of voters nationwide say Obama has received better media coverage while 16% say that Clinton has gotten the better of it from reporters. A recent Rasmussen Reports survey found that many voters believe a friendly reporter is more important to a candidate than campaign contributions.

Among Democrats, 59% believe Obama has received preferential treatment from the media while 18% say Clinton has benefitted more from reporters. Among African-Americans, 55% say Clinton has received better treatment than Clinton. Twenty-three percent (23%) of African-Americans believe Clinton receives better media coverage.

The controversy stirred by racial and gender divisions within the Democratic Party this year may be healed before the general election in November. If they are not, it will be good news for John McCain. A recent Rasmussen Reports analysis suggests that McCain may be the luckiest man on the planet since Ringo Starr. Currently, McCain is essentially even with both Democrats in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

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