INITIATIVE PROVES POOR WEDGE ISSUE : WILSON SEES LITTLE BENEFIT FOR GOP IN STATE, NATIONAL RACES.Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer Even in its planning stages, Proposition 209 was designed to be the lightning rod lightning rod, a rod made of materials, especially metals, that are good conductors of electricity, which is mounted on top of a building or other structure and attached to the ground by a cable. of the Nov. 5 election. Similar to the anti-illegal immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. Proposition 187 of two years ago that Gov. Pete Wilson For others named Pete Wilson, see . Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. Wilson served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that rode to his come-from-behind re-election, it was quickly embraced by Republicans as the wedge issue wedge issue n. A sharply divisive political issue, especially one that is raised by a candidate or party in hopes of attracting or disaffecting a portion of an opponent's customary supporters. in this year's election that would bring GOP voters to the polls. While independent polls all show the measure easily gaining voter approval statewide, it has not become the issue Republicans had hoped it would in helping the GOP gain control of the California congressional delegation or the state Senate and strengthen its hold on the state Assembly. Assembly Minority Leader Richard Katz, D-Panorama City, said polls taken around the state show that the measure - also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative - is not one of the top five issues in most races. Wilson acknowledged Friday that part of the problem has been that the GOP presidential ticket has refused to actively campaign on the measure and elevate it as an issue. It was Wilson and House Speaker Newt Gingrich who stressed the importance of Proposition 209 to Republicans in a telephone conversation last month with corporate leaders, as reported by the Daily News. ``CCRI CCRI Community College of Rhode Island CCRI California Civil Rights Initiative CCRI Central Cotton Research Institute (Pakistan) CCRI Columbus Children's Research Institute CCRi Children's Clinical Research Institute is vital because we have to be competitive in California to keep control of the House,'' Gingrich said at the time. ``If CCRI is still ahead by a dramatic margin (on Nov. 5), the environment is perfect for our candidates.'' Wilson also compared the initiative and its potential impact to Proposition 187. ``This, I think, has every bit the potential to make a critical difference . . .,'' Wilson said during the September telephone call. ``There is a real analogy between the experience two years ago in 1994 when I was seeking re-election and Proposition 187 was on the ballot.'' But Wilson said Friday that the issue has not developed as he had hoped, adding that he has urged GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole to campaign harder on the issue. ``For this to be an effective wedge issue, it has to be developed and talked about,'' Wilson said. Both sides of the CCRI campaign have been hurting for funds, although presidential adviser George Stephanopoulos George Robert Stephanopoulos (born February 10, 1961) is an American broadcaster and political adviser. He is currently ABC News's Chief Washington Correspondent and the host of ABC's Sunday morning news show This Week. is scheduled to appear at a fund-raiser this week on behalf of the measure's opponents. Ward Connerly Wardell Connerly (born June 15, 1939) is a political activist, businessman, and former University of California Regent. He is also the founder and the chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, a national non-profit organization in opposition to racial and gender preferences. , the Sacramento businessman and University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). Regent coordinating the campaign in favor of the measure, said he spends almost all of his time raising money to counter a television campaign he expects will emerge in these final weeks leading up to the election. The most visible moments of the campaign and the debate over the issue came last month when Cal State Northridge students invited former Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan (k  ' klŭks klăn), designation mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history, although other less important groups have also used Grand Wizard
Grand Wizard was the title given to the overall leader of the earliest form of the Ku Klux Klan, which formed during Southern Reconstruction. David Duke David Ernest Duke is a former Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, a candidate in presidential primaries for both the Democratic and Republican parties, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. to debate civil rights leader Joe Hicks on affirmative action affirmative action, in the United States, programs to overcome the effects of past societal discrimination by allocating jobs and resources to members of specific groups, such as minorities and women. . Wilson and Connerly bitterly opposed Duke's appearance, saying it injected race into the issue. Afterward, Connerly said he felt the move had backfired on Proposition 209 opponents, with most people realizing that Duke did not represent the views of the measure's supporters. ``I thought it discredited our opposition because they, in the most dramatic way possible, said this issue really is about race,'' Connerly said. ``They brought race back into the campaign in the cheapest, most despicable way.'' Connerly, who is African-American, argued that the measure is not about race and pointed to polls showing Proposition 209 receiving support among all ethnic and political groups. Initially, Connerly fought efforts to make the measure a partisan issue, saying it was being supported by both Democrats and Republican voters. But only the GOP came to his aid when it appeared there would not be enough money to qualify the measure for the ballot, and it has been Republicans who have tried to raise money for the issue. For Connerly, the campaign has taken on a dimension that is absorbing nearly all of his time as he travels around the state to speak on behalf of the measure and to raise funds. And, he said, it's taken a personal toll. ``It has hardened me,'' Connerly said in a recent interview. ``During the first few months, I would read letters and see cartoons against me and I would walk around my desk and pout and be angry. ``I've become hardened and part of that is good and part of that is bad. I admit some of these attacks have embittered em·bit·ter tr.v. em·bit·tered, em·bit·ter·ing, em·bit·ters 1. To make bitter in flavor. 2. To arouse bitter feelings in: was embittered by years of unrewarded labor. me, when you get letter after letter calling you an Uncle Tom, a traitor, a sellout to your race. If you can turn that off, you're a better person than I am. I should never lose my sensitivity to other peoples' concerns.'' Despite the controversy that has surrounded the issue since its inception, Connerly said he was surprised at the level of attacks against him. ``I think in this society, we should not expect this,'' Connerly said. ``I would think from black people, who supposedly gave one of the greatest contributions to this nation, that you don't judge people by race, I should never have expected this from black people. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe it would become that vituperative or that personal.'' |
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