As Hillary Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s history-making campaigns continue, a blast from the past is making news. Ward Connerly is rolling out plans for a different kind of “Super Tuesday.”
Connerly is gearing up to place an anti-affirmative action initiative on the November ballot in battleground states, including Arizona, Colorado, Missouri and Nevada. Though white women have been its primary beneficiaries, affirmative action is seen as a “test” for Obama.
Notre Dame Prof. Darren Davis told Newsweek:
Basically, on every racial issue Barack Obama is walking the tightrope. The more he supports traditional black issues like affirmative action, the more that will eat into his white base of support.
If history is any guide, the ballot measure will boost turnout among voters who are not likely to vote for the Democratic nominee, whether it’s Obama or Clinton. In 2004, an anti-affirmative action ballot initiative helped George Bush narrowly defeat John Kerry in Michigan.
Connerly, an old-school “post-racial” political hack, is setting traps for Democrats on their hoped-for road to victory in the general election.
