To figure out where the presidential candidates stand on affirmative action, one need look no further than Colorado's ballot. Amendment 46, dubbed the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative, will
destroy preferential treatment for women and minorities in public contracting, hiring and education. That measure, plus an identical one on Nebraska's ballot, is part of a national attempt to dismantle affirmative action state by state.
The effort's main backer, a black California businessman named
Ward Connerly, has sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Colorado proposal alone. In an interview with the Associated Press, Connerly said that
John McCain has tepidly endorsed the measure but "would ideally like to leave [the issue] alone," if elected.