Defeat of Prop. 54 is a win for Calif. grass-roots politics

Defeat of Prop. 54 is called win for grass-roots politics
By Leslie Wolf Branscomb
San Diego Union tribune staff writer
6:59 a.m. October 8, 2003

Voters soundly rejected Proposition 54, the "Racial Privacy Initiative," and opponents credited a relentless grass-roots campaign.

"The defeat of Proposition 54 is a triumph of information and clarity over a sound-bite initiative process," said Douglas Oden, president of the San Diego branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a leader in the local campaign against the ballot measure.

University of California Regent Ward Connerly, the sponsor of the initiative, conceded the loss early in the evening.

"When in doubt on ballot issues, people will vote no," Connerly said. "This initiative represents a profound paradigm shift in how we look at race in America, and there was no road map to follow."

Connerly said he was undeterred and would try to put an improved version of the measure on the ballot as early as 2006.

Proposition 54, the Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color or National Origin Initiative, would have disallowed collection of most racial and ethnic data by state and local governments.

In 1996 Connerly sponsored Proposition 209, a successful measure that prohibited racial preferences in public employment, contracting and education. He said his newest initiative would lead to a more color-blind society.

Opponents said it would allow more discrimination and harm medical programs, law enforcement, education and employment.

Opponents focused heavily on health care, saying Proposition 54 would prevent tracking and analysis of diseases that hit some ethnic populations harder than others.

Connerly pointed to an exemption in the measure for medical research and said his opponents had frightened voters by falsely saying health care would be hurt.

But, he added, "I think we share some of the blame for not having crafted better language on this health issue."

Connerly said the initiative also suffered from lack of funding. He estimated his campaign spent less than $250,000, while opponents spent nearly $10 million.

Contributions from labor unions and Indian tribes helped, said Oden, but he attributed the measure's defeat to a lot of hard work by volunteers.

"It was very difficult to educate the public, what with the fascination with the recall," Oden said. "It's a victory for grass-roots politics."

Two months ago, a Field Poll showed voters favored Proposition 54. Its popularity plummeted in subsequent polls.

"The polls have shown that as people become more aware of Proposition 54, they are less likely to vote for it," Dale Kelly Bankhead of San Diego No on 54 said during the campaign. "So voter contact is the name of the game."

Opponents held dozens of public forums in the past two months, literally passing the hat for funds each time.

They adopted a strategy of breaking into three major ethnic groups - black, Latino and Asian - each reaching out to its own community.

"It's kind of like three burners on a stove, but we're all cooking the same meal," said Cheryl Alethia Phelps, who helped organize local black opposition to the measure.

The umbrella group that oversaw the local anti-54 campaign, the San Diego Coalition for an Informed California, purchased radio advertising. The stations chosen reflected the voter population targeted, with ads running on urban hip-hop and Spanish-language stations.

The proponents, by contrast, were relatively quiet in San Diego County. Holding few forums and no debates, they spoke occasionally at local Republican and women's clubs and contacted voters through fliers and e-mail.

Mostly they relied on Connerly's American Civil Rights Coalition in Sacramento to purchase advertising. The proponents' ads ran on talk radio stations in Sacramento and Los Angeles.

The local proponents of Proposition 54 knew a month ago that they were outgunned by the glut of highly publicized rallies and forums being held by the other side.

"There's not much in the way of events," admitted Stuart Hurlbert, a San Diego State University biology professor.

"Every few days I get a list from Connerly's office about small groups looking for speakers," he said in September. "But there have been very few requests here in the San Diego area."

He said the proponents were disheartened when the governor-elect, Arnold Schwarzenegger, then the leading Republican candidate, referred to backers of Proposition 54 during the campaign as "right-wing crazies."

"Ward (Connerly) is pretty moderate," Hurlbert said. "I like to say he's a multiracial angel sent by a bipartisan God."