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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: carranza2 who wrote (10566)	10/3/2003 10:26:17 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793718

Very interesting Poll results on Prop 54, the "Racial Identity" proposition. It is shocking the California Liberal Elite - who see themselves as the minority's "Nanny" - but not me. I kept hearing over and over from minorities that they were tired of racial questions. The move to Arnold should energize the "Yes" voters, and discourage a lot of the liberal "No" voters. _____________________________________ Poll bucks prior surveys, sees Prop. 54 winning By Stephen Magagnini -- Bee Staff Writer - (Published September 26, 2003) Proposition 54, which would restrict the state from collecting most racial and ethnic data, is leading among all ethnic groups -- and enjoys more support from people of color than whites, according to a poll released Thursday. The poll -- described by its authors as the most comprehensive survey of voters of color ever conducted in California -- showed that likely Latino voters back Proposition 54 by the greatest proportion, 46 percent to 33 percent. Meanwhile, only 31 percent of whites favored the initiative, compared with 42 percent of Asian Americans and 41 percent of African Americans. The measure requires a majority of votes for passage. Results of the 2003 Multilingual Survey of California Voters run counter to other recent polls showing the Oct. 7 initiative losing ground. Proponents of Proposition 54 call it the "racial privacy initiative," saying California shouldn't ask residents their race or ethnicity if it's trying to achieve a colorblind society. Opponents call it the "information ban," claiming it will prevent collection of statistics needed to fight discrimination and achieve racial equality. The survey, an effort by four organizations that track ethnic voting trends, also found many voters are either uninformed or undecided about Proposition 54. The poll showed 47 percent of Asian Americans, 45 percent of Latinos, 32 percent of African Americans and 30 percent of whites had not heard of the initiative. Among those familiar with the measure, 44 percent of whites remained undecided, compared with 26 percent of African Americans, 21 percent of Latinos and 18 percent of Asian Americans. "This should be a wake-up call that this proposition is not visible," said Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, which joined in the survey. The measure's author, Ward Connerly, called the new results unbelievable, especially since ethnic leaders are "united" in their opposition to Proposition 54. He said he expected it to be buried by an avalanche of negative advertisements featuring Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. "Candidly, I'm puzzled by it," Connerly said. "Maybe people are saying one thing when they're faced with the NAACP staring at them, and maybe they're saying something else when they get to the privacy of their homes, or in one-on-one conversations where they're not afraid of being ostracized." Maya Harris, Northern California political director for the No on 54 campaign, noted a series of other polls showing support for the initiative steadily eroding. "It's a definite challenge to educate large numbers of voters about a convoluted, poorly worded initiative in a short timeline in a circus recall atmosphere," Harris said. "But at the end of the day we are confident that an informed public will vote this proposition down." Today, opponents of Proposition 54 are to launch a $1.8 million statewide television advertising campaign featuring former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. In the 30-second spot, Koop claims Proposition 54 would "block information that can help save lives" and "end prevention efforts directed to those most at risk from cancer, diabetes and other diseases." The TV ad challenges Proposition 54's exemption for "medical research subjects and patients," which opponents say is too narrow and would ban data needed to fight diseases that afflict some ethnic groups more than others. Connerly claims all health-related data would be exempt and that critics are using scare tactics. While the survey -- taken in six languages to poll 600 Latinos, 504 African Americans, 254 whites and 250 Asian Americans -- showed Proposition 54 ahead across the board, it also showed it losing among African Americans (48 percent to 40 percent) and Latinos (46 percent to 35 percent) who say they've experienced discrimination. Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center -- one of the groups collaborating in the survey -- noted that poll respondents said the strongest pro-54 argument "was the idea that race should be a private matter like religion, and this initiative will keep the government from asking (your) race or ethnicity." Conversely, the most convincing "no" argument was that it will do nothing to prevent discrimination in housing, employment and education, Suro said. Sergio Bendixen, whose polling firm also joined in the survey, said the results indicate that "the people who oppose Proposition 54 have a very big job ahead of them in the next two weeks. Mathematically it is impossible for Proposition 54 to be defeated unless minorities oppose it." sacbee.com