Ward Connerly and his team have won the hotly contested campaign to end racial preferences in Michigan.  With the help of our own FR alum, Joe Justin, Proposal 2 passed by a huge margin, 58%-42%  Despite the pile-on opposition by politicians, labor unions, businesses and the education establishment, the voters saw clearly that the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative was a straightforward, fair measure that simply called on government to treat people equally, without regard to their race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.  Ten years after California voters passed the California Civil Rights Initiative, Prop. 209, Michigan voters got it right and passed their own ban on racial and gender preferences.  Congratulations, Ward, Joe and Jennifer Gratz, the executive director of the MCRI campaign.

Below is a little write-up from Joe Justin, who apparently misses being a regular contributor to the FR…

A Missed Opportunity For the Michigan GOP

By Joe Justin, FlashReport Alumnus

Sometimes politics can be a lot like love…an opportunity that slips through your fingers before you know it. Last night, Michigan Republicans found out what that feels like.  Proposal 2, The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (the mirror of California’s Prop 209) was a missed opportunity that sailed to victory with nearly 60% of the vote in the face of a Democratic landslide and I’m glad to have been a part of it.  Moreover, I’m confident that the Republican nominee for Governor, Dick DeVos, and the State House and Senate Republicans, who lost their majority, feel the pain of watching that wonderful opportunity to mitigate the Democratic tidal wave slip through their fingers.  Worse, knowing they did it to themselves.

You see, privately DeVos and the former legislative Majority privately supported the ban on race and gender preferences, but publicly meekly stood side by side with the Democrats, the unions and the glitterati who run Michigan out of fear.  They wimped out.  They lost their way.  So, just like the Congressional Republican Committee Chairs who rightfully lost their seats because they betrayed the revolution (and were arrogant to boot), Michigan Republicans paid the price for failing fight for a color blind society and a core belief of theirs.  Proposal 2 was a winning issue and a missed opportunity that will haunt Michigan Republicans for years to come.  Will we ever learn?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.