Before the convention Mondale had begun interviewing potential running mates, accepting input from all factions of the party. Feminists were especially vocal, announcing that they would take their cause to the convention floor if Mondale did not select a woman. Conservative columnist George Will observed, "Mondale bought his own paint and then painted himself into a corner. . . . He has no choice but to pick a woman, and he must not do it. If he does not, he will have got half of the population up on its tiptoes and then not kissed it. If he does, he will be the wimp who was bullied by the National Organization for Women" (Newsweek, 16 July 1984). Yet when Mondale tapped Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro of New York to be his running mate, many felt that he had made an excellent choice. Ferraro, who had chaired the platform committee...