How Super will “Super Tuesday” Be? Part 3 of a 3-part series on the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative By Christopher Fischer The Pointe Staff November 2nd, 2007 There doesn’t seem to be much question in Tim Asher’s mind as to whether his Missouri Civil Rights Initiative will go forward despite a looming lawsuit over the Secretary of State’s ballot wording. He feels the initiative, which he says is intended to remove race and gender preferences from public jobs, contracting and education, could still be successful even if they lost their lawsuit. The group would just have to spend more “in terms of educating people on the issue,” said Asher. The lawsuit, slated for December 17, takes umbrage with Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s wording of the ballot title. MoCRI contends that Carnahan went beyond her authority and worded the question to be prejudicial toward the proposed amendment. A second lawsuit argues from the opposite point of view, claiming that the language Carnahan approved does not state that the measure would allow discrimination on the basis of religion, disability, age or veteran status. It was filed by Steve Israelite, former executive director of the Jewish Heritage Foundation of Kansas City, and Greg Shufeldt, political director of the St. Louis-based Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition. They include State Auditor Susan Montee in the suit for not researching the costs associated with the amendment thoroughly enough. Asher said the eight and-a-half-hour deposition he submitted to last week felt like “an interrogation.” The lawyer for Carnahan is Chuck Hatfield, a former staffer for Attorney General Jay Nixon’s office. He is now the treasurer of Nixon’s campaign for governor. Asher noted that no one from the Secretary of State’s office is being required to sit for a deposition, nor are the other two litigants against Carnahan and Montee. “But they’re flying to California to give [American Civil Rights Institute Chairman] Ward [Connerly] his deposition,” he added. If Carnahan’s office wins the lawsuit, Connerly predicts it will be worse for supporters of affirmative action in the long run. “By characterizing this bill as anti-affirmative action, let’s say the voters take the State’s language to mean entirely abolishing affirmative action. Well, because they’ve changed the wording, and because there are people out there who disagree with the entire concept of affirmative action, I’m not sure they want that,” said Connerly. “I think we could still win, and they get a muddled situation where they end up getting all forms of affirmative action banned,” he added. Connerly has said that he supports affirmative action when it addresses “certain socioeconomic factors and outreach programs.” He says he doesn’t want to do away with those parts of the policy, but will consider a majority vote with either ballot title in November a win for his side. Missouri’s 55th District State Representative, Bryan Pratt of Blue Springs appears to be in support of the initiative, although he says he plans to read the final ballot wording before making a decision. “My general philosophy is that you shouldn’t treat anyone different on account of their race. I don’t care what their skin color is, their sex, their religion, none of that,” Pratt said, adding that when it comes to government hiring and contracting, “What we should be looking for is, are they going to do a good job and are they going to do it at a fair price?” Pratt said the issue speaks in part to his economic views. “I’m a strong fiscal conservative, so when it comes to our taxpayer dollars, I’m looking for the best bang for our buck,” adding, “Look at it this way. When you go to get an oil change, you don’t go and look at what the race and religion and sex of the person doing the oil change is. You just want a good job done at the best price. That’s how the government should be doing things.” When it comes to education, race and sex should not be an issue, says Pratt. “Take the best students,” he said. “It shouldn’t matter.” Asher feels that the lawsuit by Israelite and Shufeldt is a political ploy designed to create confusion among voters. After the suit, MoCRI still has to get nearly 139,000 Missouri signatures on a petition next spring to get it on the November ballot. Much has been discussed as to how the Civil Rights Initiative in Missouri and four other states would affect voter turnout, since race is often considered to be a wedge issue. Pratt doesn’t believe it will affect voter turnout. “I really don’t think so since it’s a presidential election year,” he said, citing the higher state turnout (greater than 50 percent) in last year’s midterm elections. “I think it’s good that the vote on this is planned for November, since it will allow the greatest number of Missourians to speak,” Pratt said, adding that he doesn’t see this as a party line issue. “I think it’s an issue that both sides value. When you’re talking about treating people fairly, I think you’ll see a strong majority of Republicans and Democrats come out and say, ‘let’s treat everybody fairly.’” It remains to be seen what kind of campaign Missouri can expect over the initiative. “It depends on how the court rules,” said Connerly. “If we are saddled with this perverse language we will have to spend more money on print and television ads to explain to people the true meaning of the initiative. If not, we won’t have to spend as much.” Back to home page...