Naturalized-Texan
11-09-2006, 04:43 PM
Prop 2: A Lesson for Republicans (http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MmQ4MmZiZmM1MTI5NDRlOWZiYTUxNzkyOTU2Zjc1ODA=)
After an otherwise grim election, conservatives can exult in the improbable, landslide win of Proposition 2 banning racial and gender preferences in Michigan. A pity the Republican party can’t share in the celebration.
That’s because Michigan Republicans found it more politically expedient to join Democrats and Big Business in opposition to Prop 2 than to fight for the principle of race neutrality in government admissions, hiring, and contracting. The party’s reasoning? By throwing the initiative overboard, they hoped to keep minority turnout low, thus helping GOP nominee Dick DeVos in his run for governor against incumbent Jennifer Granholm.
But these oh-so-clever Republicans badly misread the electorate.
Democrats turned out in droves anyway, dealing DeVos an unexpected shellacking, 56-42 percent. But the Prop 2 result was just as unexpected. Even as they voted for a Democratic governor and statehouse, voters — including waves of Democrats — gave Prop 2 a staggering 58-42 win, defying all polls that had shown the initiative in a dead heat.
After an otherwise grim election, conservatives can exult in the improbable, landslide win of Proposition 2 banning racial and gender preferences in Michigan. A pity the Republican party can’t share in the celebration.
That’s because Michigan Republicans found it more politically expedient to join Democrats and Big Business in opposition to Prop 2 than to fight for the principle of race neutrality in government admissions, hiring, and contracting. The party’s reasoning? By throwing the initiative overboard, they hoped to keep minority turnout low, thus helping GOP nominee Dick DeVos in his run for governor against incumbent Jennifer Granholm.
But these oh-so-clever Republicans badly misread the electorate.
Democrats turned out in droves anyway, dealing DeVos an unexpected shellacking, 56-42 percent. But the Prop 2 result was just as unexpected. Even as they voted for a Democratic governor and statehouse, voters — including waves of Democrats — gave Prop 2 a staggering 58-42 win, defying all polls that had shown the initiative in a dead heat.