mikestilly
Regular Member
Last Updated: July 23. 2010 3:52PM
Henry Payne
The sheriff shoots himself in the foot
Henry Payne / The Michigan View.com
Just as GOP governor candidate Mike Bouchard was re-inventing himself as a courageous reformer for a Michigan right-to-work law, his apparent attempt to rewrite history on racial quotas in a Detroit News interview has re-opened an old wound with the GOP conservative base.
Bouchard answered "supports" to a Detroit News query published Thursday about whether he backed the "affirmative action ban." The question was in reference to the 2006 Michigan Civil Rights Initiative that banned racial preferences in state hiring and passed in a popular landslide with a huge majority of Republican voters.
Bouchard, however -- in keeping with his historically cautious style -- opposed the measure as a U.S. Senate candidate. Other high-profile GOP moderates like Dick DeVos and Rick Snyder also ran for the tall grass at the time -- a retreat that ultimately victorious conservatives have never forgotten.
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It's "one thing (that) bugs me about Mike," writes conservative Michigan commentator and Oakland University Professor Chris Kobus. "What saddened me the most at that time was when the Republican establishment took the politically correct route and came out against the MCRI. Among the establishment politicians that came out against was one Mike Bouchard."
In contrast, GOP candidate -- and MCRI opponent -- Rick Snyder answered the same Detroit News question with: "Opposes, but will uphold voter decision."
Bouchard's vote was all but forgotten this campaign, especially in recent days as Bouchard turned right in support of boldly taking on the state's unions and transforming Michigan's reputation as a right-to-work state. One figure that has not forgotten Bouchard's MCRI opposition, however, is Jennifer Gratz who has spearheaded the anti-race quota campaign since she sued the University of Michigan for its discriminatory admissions policy. Gratz was threatened, slurred, and even had a knife pulled on her as she battled the state's race mob in her fight for colorblind state hiring and admissions.
Gratz supports Mike Cox -- a fearless supporter of MCRI -- in the governor's race and she was quick to pounce on Bouchard's flip-flop. "Bouchard opposed (MCRI)," wrote Gratz in an e-mail. "In fact, MCRI's opponents touted Bouchard's opposition every chance they could get."
"This looks bad on Bouchard who is trying to rewrite his own history," writes Kobus.
The Bouchard camp responded to the tempest by saying the candidate "has a long record of standing against racial discrimination. In 2006 he fully supported the idea of the affirmative action amendment, but believed there were problems with the language that should have been redone."
It was the politically correct thing to do. But for a pol now selling himself as a fighter for new ideas, it rings hollow for Republicans. And Clinton-esque answers in campaign interviews only compound the problem.
Henry Payne is editor of The Michigan View.
http://detnews.com/article/20100723/MIVIEW/7230427/The-sheriff-shoots-himself-in-the-foot
Henry Payne
The sheriff shoots himself in the foot
Henry Payne / The Michigan View.com
Just as GOP governor candidate Mike Bouchard was re-inventing himself as a courageous reformer for a Michigan right-to-work law, his apparent attempt to rewrite history on racial quotas in a Detroit News interview has re-opened an old wound with the GOP conservative base.
Bouchard answered "supports" to a Detroit News query published Thursday about whether he backed the "affirmative action ban." The question was in reference to the 2006 Michigan Civil Rights Initiative that banned racial preferences in state hiring and passed in a popular landslide with a huge majority of Republican voters.
Bouchard, however -- in keeping with his historically cautious style -- opposed the measure as a U.S. Senate candidate. Other high-profile GOP moderates like Dick DeVos and Rick Snyder also ran for the tall grass at the time -- a retreat that ultimately victorious conservatives have never forgotten.
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It's "one thing (that) bugs me about Mike," writes conservative Michigan commentator and Oakland University Professor Chris Kobus. "What saddened me the most at that time was when the Republican establishment took the politically correct route and came out against the MCRI. Among the establishment politicians that came out against was one Mike Bouchard."
In contrast, GOP candidate -- and MCRI opponent -- Rick Snyder answered the same Detroit News question with: "Opposes, but will uphold voter decision."
Bouchard's vote was all but forgotten this campaign, especially in recent days as Bouchard turned right in support of boldly taking on the state's unions and transforming Michigan's reputation as a right-to-work state. One figure that has not forgotten Bouchard's MCRI opposition, however, is Jennifer Gratz who has spearheaded the anti-race quota campaign since she sued the University of Michigan for its discriminatory admissions policy. Gratz was threatened, slurred, and even had a knife pulled on her as she battled the state's race mob in her fight for colorblind state hiring and admissions.
Gratz supports Mike Cox -- a fearless supporter of MCRI -- in the governor's race and she was quick to pounce on Bouchard's flip-flop. "Bouchard opposed (MCRI)," wrote Gratz in an e-mail. "In fact, MCRI's opponents touted Bouchard's opposition every chance they could get."
"This looks bad on Bouchard who is trying to rewrite his own history," writes Kobus.
The Bouchard camp responded to the tempest by saying the candidate "has a long record of standing against racial discrimination. In 2006 he fully supported the idea of the affirmative action amendment, but believed there were problems with the language that should have been redone."
It was the politically correct thing to do. But for a pol now selling himself as a fighter for new ideas, it rings hollow for Republicans. And Clinton-esque answers in campaign interviews only compound the problem.
Henry Payne is editor of The Michigan View.
http://detnews.com/article/20100723/MIVIEW/7230427/The-sheriff-shoots-himself-in-the-foot
Musta read 1/3 of the story before I figured out I wasn't gonna hear about no ND.