Jeb Bush on Prop 54? (My title)

Gov. Jeb Bush has made sure to keep quiet recently about what he thinks about the upcoming California recall election. When first asked, Bush quipped that his favorite candidate among the 135 seeking to replace Gov. Gray Davis was former child actor Gary Coleman.

Bush's reasoning? Coleman would be for smaller government, he said, a reference to the diminutive Coleman's height.

But this past week Bush made some comments that might be taken to mean he's in favor of another ballot item that will go before California voters in October.

If passed, Proposition 54, or the Racial Privacy Initiative as it known, would prohibit the state of California or local governments from collecting information on race, ethnicity or national origin for education, contracting or employment purposes.

For example, state universities couldn't ask the race of a college applicant and a city government couldn't ask the race of a job applicant.

The initiative is being pushed by California businessman Ward Connerly, a staunch foe of affirmative action who has led ballot initiatives to ban the use of affirmative action in university admissions and state contracting.

In 1999, Connerly was leading a petition drive in Florida, but Bush opposed it, calling it "divisive." Instead, Bush launched the One Florida Initiative, which eliminated affirmative action in many state agencies and led to universities adopting race-neutral admission policies.

This past week, Bush held a news conference to tout the latest numbers showing that minority enrollment hasn't dropped as predicted under One Florida.

When asked, however, why the overall percentage of entering freshmen students who are black has declined in the past three years, Bush said there were some "technical reasons." One technical reason, Bush explained, was that fewer students were designating race when applying to college.

"An increasing number of students in our system are not identifying themselves by race, which is actually something that I consider to be fairly heart-warming, to be honest with you," said Bush. "Diversity is reaching a place now where people have a hard time sometimes saying what they are. They know they're Floridians. They know they're Americans. They may not fit in a box. Or they don't care to fit in a box."

So is this a tacit endorsement of Connerly's latest initiative? Absolutely not, insisted Bush spokeswoman Alia Faraj.

"He has not seen the language (of the initiative)," said Faraj, who added that Bush was hailing the decision of students voluntarily choosing not to disclose their race on admissions paperwork.

Compiled by Gary Fineout and Lloyd Dunkelberger in the Tallahassee Bureau of the New York Times Regional Newspapers.

2 posted on 09/12/2003 1:50:16 PM PDT by Constitution Day (+ R.I.P., Man in Black. +)

Why is anybody asking Jeb Bush about prop 54? It's a California thing. his answer should be "this is Florida, that's California... does anyone else have any pertinent questions?"

3 posted on 09/12/2003 1:51:21 PM PDT by discostu (just a tuna sandwich from another catering service)

Why is anybody asking Jeb Bush about prop 54? It's a California thing. his answer should be "this is Florida, that's California... does anyone else have any pertinent questions?"

Agreed. Yup. Duh?

4 posted on 09/12/2003 1:53:52 PM PDT by Cobra64 (Babes should wear Bullet Bras - www.BulletBras.net)

Why is anybody asking Jeb Bush about prop 54? It's a California thing. his answer should be "this is Florida, that's California... does anyone else have any pertinent questions?"

Because some people are trying to find any kind of excuse to label every elected Republican as a 'RINO'.

The media is always hoping for some foot-in-mouth from conservatives. That's why good politicians memorize a handful of polite kissoffs.

6 posted on 09/12/2003 1:59:57 PM PDT by discostu (just a tuna sandwich from another catering service)

7 posted on 09/12/2003 2:08:34 PM PDT by Alia (California -- It's Groovy! Baby!)

8 posted on 09/12/2003 2:11:22 PM PDT by Constitution Day (+ R.I.P., Man in Black. +)

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