Preference Foes Say Initiative Is Back on Track

With just over a week to go before their Feb. 21 filing deadline, proponents of an initiative proposal to roll back affirmative action laws in California say they have far more than the 694,000 signatures needed to qualify the measure for November’s ballot.

Standing before hundreds of applauding delegates at the state Republican convention here last weekend, Ward Connerly enjoyed a standing ovation--not because he is a victorious politician but because of his apparently successful mission to rescue the once-struggling proposal.

“On a personal level, I thank you for allowing me to bask in the warm glow of your friendship and applause,” Connerly, a University of California regent, told convention delegates. “We’re going to do this in California . . . so the people of this state can say once and for all, ‘We favor equal opportunity for all and preferences for none.’ ”

Connerly, one of about half a dozen blacks in a largely white convention audience of about 800, appealed to the delegates for help in the petition drive’s final days.

He said the campaign is looking to make a strong statement about the issue’s popularity and to provide a comfortable cushion in case some signatures are invalidated. Connerly said he hopes the campaign will submit more than 1 million signatures next week to the secretary of state.

That is a dramatically different outlook than supporters reported barely two months ago.

In December, even after raising more than $500,000, the campaign was forced to halt signature-gathering for a critical three weeks because it ran out of money to pay the workers. At the time, the so-called California civil rights initiative was far behind schedule for reaching the signature goal by Feb. 21.

To the rescue came Connerly and Gov. Pete Wilson, the same pair who teamed up in July to orchestrate a historic vote by the UC regents to abolish race and gender as considerations in hiring and admissions.

Since then, fueled by fear of a major embarrassment if the effort failed and by the possibility of a political boost if it passed, Wilson and Connerly organized a blitz of campaign resources.

Although Connerly still insists that opposition to affirmative action crosses party lines, Republican Party officials have turned it into a top priority. Both the state and national GOP committees were signed up for more than $500,000 in assistance, said California Republican Party Chairman John Herrington.

The Legislature’s Republican caucus also was pressured for help last month and about a quarter of the GOP lawmakers tapped their own campaign funds for about $4,000 each. Large donations were received from top Republican contributors such as former U.S. Senate candidate Mike Huffington and conservative banking magnate Howard Ahmanson.

Now, after reporting a debt of about $145,000 on Dec. 31 despite having raised more than $880,000, officials expect to have cash left over after the qualifying process to launch their campaign for the ballot measure.

Republican voters also have been asked to help. Organizers used the money that they raised to target the GOP rank and file with more than a million pieces of mail in the last two months, many of which included pleas from the governor and other party leaders for financial and volunteer assistance.

“The initial feeling was that this should not be a political issue--but it is a political issue,” Herrington said. “It is a defining issue in California, and Republicans are on the right side of the issue.”

Republicans insist that the measure foundered because of the political inexperience of its previous directors, not from a lack of public support. They also acknowledge that some major donors, particularly businesses, were reluctant to become involved in the controversial issue.

The proposed initiative, written by two Bay Area academics, says the state “shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.”

Supporters, such as Wilson, contend that the measure will eliminate race-conscious policies in state government that amount to “reverse discrimination” against white job applicants.

Wilson once promoted affirmative action while mayor of San Diego. But the governor says that he was wrong then because the policy has turned into an ethnic quota system for hiring, contracting and school admissions.

The issue has been highly controversial, however, with critics of the anti-affirmative action drive spanning all but the most conservative ranks of the political spectrum.

Many Republicans have warned that the issue is destructive for the party because it presents an image of insensitivity and exclusion to minorities. Others, including Democrats such as President Clinton, minority group leaders and women’s groups, argue that society has not resolved the inequities that prompted affirmative action policies about 30 years ago.

Opinion surveys have found that while a majority of Californians approve the broad concept of affirmative action, they draw the line at racial and gender preferences as a way to provide equal playing fields.

Republican supporters of the proposed ballot measure are hoping that they can frame the issue in a way that will cause political headaches for Democrats trying to campaign in California--particularly Clinton.

The president’s response to the issue has been “mend it, don’t end it.” And California Democrats predict that other issues will be more important to voters.

“Democrats . . . are going to be talking about issues that voters care about--they are about investment in education, about improving the economy and protecting the environment,” said Julie Buckner, a state Democratic Party spokeswoman.

At the GOP convention, however, Republicans were counting on their huge investment paying off in November.

“A lot of blue-collar Democrats will be for this and the liberal left will be against it,” William Rusher, editor of the National Review, said during a panel discussion at the convention. “This is the issue that can ruin the presidency in California.”

Herrington dubbed it “the Democrats’ abortion issue. They shoved that down our throats all the time, and it divided our party and they laughed.”