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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (484631)	10/31/2003 3:54:18 PM
From: Bald Eagle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

RE:Women were better off under Saddam Hussein.Hussein kept the fervent religious fundamentalism down. He had his own band of rapists who attacked political opponents' female relatives, you're saying that's good for women?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (484631)	10/31/2003 3:57:18 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

Affirmative Action Past May Hurt Democrats By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 3:40 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- Howard Dean is the latest Democrat to catch heat for changing statements on affirmative action, but he isn't the only one. At least two other Democratic presidential candidates also raised questions about programs that gave preference to minorities back in the 1990s. Even though all three have pledged their support for affirmative action in recent years, black leaders say the candidates' past criticism could create some doubt about whether they could be trusted to uphold the policy as president. ``When you've got nine or 10 candidates, all of whom seem to be strong Democrats, then I think it becomes a degree of commitment and not whether or not there is a commitment to affirmative action,'' said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. The issue has been hot button on the campaign trail this year as the Supreme Court considered affirmative action programs at the University of Michigan. President Bush spoke out against the university's policy, but the court sided with the school by one vote. Bush's rivals can count on drawing big applause from Democratic audiences by promising to appoint judges committed to the policy and condemning the president for his opposition. ``The president essentially played the race card when he used the word quota to describe the University of Michigan affirmative action program,'' Dean says frequently. ``And for that reason alone, he deserves a one-way bus ticket back to Crawford, Texas.'' Dean says America needs affirmative action to overcome people's natural bias to hire and promote employees who look like them. But he had a different position in 1995, when the then-governor of Vermont appeared on CNN. ``You know, I think we ought to look at affirmative action programs based not on race, but on class and opportunities to participate,'' Dean said. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist and fellow candidate for the Democratic nomination, brought Dean's previous statement to light this week. He said it contributes to Dean's ``anti-black agenda'' -- a criticism Dean and his campaign dismissed. Although Dean is the recent target of Sharpton's ire, Sharpton also has clashed with presidential candidate Joe Lieberman over affirmative action. Sharpton criticized Lieberman during the 2000 election, when the Connecticut senator was the Democratic vice presidential nominee. Although he supports affirmative action now, in 1995 Lieberman supported a California ballot measure that would have barred the state from awarding jobs or contracts based on racial preferences. ``Most Americans who do support equal opportunity and are not biased don't think it is fair to discriminate against some Americans as a way to make up for historic discrimination against others,'' he said in a speech on the Senate floor at the time. Three years earlier, John Kerry expressed similar concerns about affirmative action creating reverse discrimination. In a speech at Yale University, Kerry said he supports affirmative action, which he lauded for opening doors for women, creating a black middle class and diversifying campuses, but he said the policy had costs as well as benefits. ``There exists a reality of reverse discrimination that actually engenders racism,'' he said. Later, he added, ``We cannot hope to make further racial progress when the plurality of whites believe, as they do today according to recent data, that it is they, not others, who suffer most from discrimination.'' Sharpton said all the candidates' changing statements concern him, but he said he felt a duty to point out Dean's previous comments since Dean has portrayed himself as an authority on racial issues. ``Now when somebody starts bringing back his own words, he starts doing the moonwalk,'' Sharpton said. ``We can forgive, pardon, or clarify all the candidates, but we can't allow the candidates to misrepresent history.'' Cummings said he hasn't had a chance to talk to Dean yet about his previous statement, but Lieberman was asked to address it during a recent meeting with the black caucus. He said Lieberman ``sounded very cautiously pro-affirmative action.'' ``We believe that he strongly believes in affirmative action, but we aren't completely clear about how he is going to go about implementing it,'' Cummings said. Lieberman spokesman Jano Cabrera said Lieberman strongly supports affirmative action. He said Lieberman raised questions about some aspects of the policy in the 1990s, but so did President Clinton and others. ``I think it's fair to say that all the presidential candidates are firmly committed to affirmative action and have spoken out vigorously to defend the program,'' Cabrera said. Cummings said past statements about affirmative action are just one way to judge a person's commitment to the program. He would also look at their public records and whether they implemented the policy in their own staff. ``Certainly these past statements create some doubt, but the question is what are the candidates committed to doing today?''