Ads Against Prop. 209 to Debut

Proposition 209 foes are going on the air today with their first paid television and radio ads, highlighting ex-klansman David Duke’s support of the initiative and featuring several well-known entertainment figures speaking out against the measure.

Debuting a week before the election, the ads represent opponents’ final push to get their message to voters, who have shown majority support for the measure in a series of Times polls.

The initiative would amend the state Constitution to ban racial and gender preferences by state and local government, thereby ending government affirmative action aimed at women and minorities.

The “Defeat 209” campaign’s $1-million television effort will place a single ad in four major markets: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento, while the “Stop Prop. 209” campaign is running a series of radio ads in Greater Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

The television ad is the most provocative. As images of David Duke and a burning cross flash across the screen, the narrator declares that Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader who just failed in a bid for a U. S. Senate seat in Louisiana, has “come to California to support Prop. 209.”

The initiative, the ad continues, “would close education and job opportunities to women and minorities. Close magnet schools. Lock women out of government jobs. End equal opportunity.”

Opponents have emphasized Duke’s support of Proposition 209 since he went to Cal State Northridge last month to debate civil rights leader Joe Hicks on the merits of affirmative action.

Initiative backers expressed outrage at the student body’s invitation to Duke, who they say is not in any way associated with their campaign. Supporters, who released their sixth radio ad Monday, were just as incensed at Duke’s appearance in the new opposition ad.

Ward Connerly, chairman of the Proposition 209 campaign, called the ad a “despicable reversion to the discredited tactics of guilt by association. It is an act of pathetic desperation.”

“By featuring David Duke in their ad,” Connerly said, “they have labeled as racists the majority of Californians who support Proposition 209. Their ad . . . shows the opposition’s inability to debate the issue.”

Pat Ewing, director of the Defeat 209 campaign, said Duke was included in the ad to “cut to the chase,” and reveal the real nature of the initiative.

“Ward Connerly and the Republican Party created and birthed a deceptive initiative,” Ewing said. “They have spent millions of dollars promoting it and we were faced with the opportunity but also the problem of getting to the truth as quickly and decisively as possible.”

In a further attempt to link the initiative with out-of-favor politicians, the ad goes on to say that Proposition 209 is supported by House Speaker Newt Gingrich and failed Republican presidential contender Pat Buchanan.

Ironically, the ad points out the same thing that a new Republican Party, pro-Proposition 209 television ad does: President Clinton opposes the initiative.

“President Clinton and Colin Powell say you should vote no,” the ad announces.

Although Republicans view Clinton’s opposition as something that can diminish his appeal to voters, initiative foes are eyeing the president’s lead in the polls and trying to tie their cause to his coattails.

The opposition radio ads consist of six different spots featuring musician Bruce Springsteen, actors Candice Bergen, Ellen DeGeneres and Alfre Woodard and civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson and Dolores Huerta.

“People will zero in on what they’re saying,” said Kathy Spillar of Stop Prop. 209, which bought the $500,000 radio ads. The celebrities, who speak in the ads, donated their services.

Like the television ad, the anti-Proposition 209 radio campaign emphasizes the initiative’s effect on affirmative action programs, because polls show that opposition to Proposition 209 grows when people realize the measure’s ban on race and gender preferences will end government affirmative action tailored to women and minorities.

Repeating a theme opponents have hammered on throughout their campaign, the radio ads also warn that women’s programs and rights will suffer if Proposition 209 passes.

Although pro-Proposition 209 ads have been on the radio for weeks, Spillar insisted that it is not too late for the opposition spots to have an effect. “People are just now zeroing in” on initiatives, she said. “This last week is very, very key.”

Both camps have been hampered by a lack of money, but the problem has been more acute for opponents. As of Monday, the campaign for Proposition 209 had reported contributions of about $3.5 million, while opponents had raised about $2.5 million.

Last week, the Republican Party started a $2-million television ad campaign in favor of the initiative. The ad, which quoted Martin Luther King Jr., immediately prompted protests from the King estate and civil rights leaders and the quote was subsequently dropped.

The Proposition 209 campaign announced Monday that it will launch a newspaper and radio advertising campaign this week to highlight what it says is the measure’s bipartisan support.

The latest Proposition 209 radio commercial features campaign co-chairs Connerly and Pamela Lewis. Lewis introduces herself as being “white, female and a Democrat who will vote for Bill Clinton.” Connerly introduces himself as being “black, male and a Republican who will vote for Bob Dole.” The newspaper ads include a photo of the two campaign leaders.

“These are our differences,” Lewis says in the commercial. “But we have a lot in common.”

Opponents strongly disputed claims that the measure is nonpartisan.

They note that, in addition to the $2-million television commercial, the state Republican Party invested nearly $500,000 last January when it appeared that the measure might fail in its effort to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Connerly has also maintained a high political profile, joining Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole on the stage during rallies last weekend.

“I was Ward Connerly speaking as an individual,” he said at the news conference Monday. “I support Bob Dole. But that does not mean that this campaign is supporting Dole. I don’t want to give any impression that the [Proposition] 209 campaign is supporting Bob Dole.”