For any number of reasons, ballot initiatives are here to stay, but I resent it when an out-of-stater bankrolls one as a means of monkeying with the governor's race in Missouri.
Ward Connerly, pictured at left with Fred Thompson, is pouring money into five swing states to support anti-affirmative action ballot initiatives, which would eliminate affirmative action for women and minorities in university admissions and in the awarding of state contracts. The results wouldn't be pretty: because of the one Californians passed, state contracts to women and minority owned businesses dropped by 50 percent.
Besides being a mean-spirited piece of work, this initiative will, come election day, bring out the racists and those biased against women in business, in other words, people likely to vote for Matt Blunt and whichever presidential candidate the Republicans are forced to settle for.
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