Friday, June 27, 2003
CAN WE CALL HIM FRONTRUNNER YET?MoveOn.org, a left-wing website, PAC and activist organization just concluded its
internet "primary" among its members and
Howard Dean registered an impressive win. Sure, it's just an Internet poll, but it has real meaning. MoveOn.org boasts a large membership that can best be described as the left wing of the Democratic Party. The poll results are best understood as the position of the base of the Democratic Party -- those people who put out the signs, urge their friends and families to vote for their candidates and generally do the grassroots work of the party. These are the people that the primary candidates run "left" to win in the primaries, and then run away from in the general election as they seek independent voter support. They are the gatekeepers.
With over 300,000 activists registering their votes, Dean wins this internet "primary" with 44%, followed by Kucinich at 24%, Kerry at 16% and Edwards at 3%. No other polling of such a large pool of identified left-wing activists has occurred, and other polling in the early primary states shows Dean neck and neck with Kerry. However, Kerry is still the media-crowned "front-runner". Until Kerry pulls off a win among the activists (Dean also took first at Wisconsin Democratic Party convention), Dean should be considered the front-runner, and, in my opinion, he has a better shot at beating Bush than does Kerry because he appears to be more principled and more believable than Kerry, who seems caught in cyclonic spin-mode.
If Dean holds on and wins the nomination, it will be interesting to see if he turns out to be a McGovern or a Carter.
ENLIGHTENED EUROPENever much for freedom of speech, it should be no surprise that Europe is
preparing new rules aimed at censoring advertisments, television programs, newspapers and other forms of communications. Prepared by a Greek feminist-socialist, the new rules could become law for all of Europe by a vote of unelected European Parliamentarians. It seems that Europe is sliding back toward the dark ages of oppression by the unelected.
HOW BOUT REPUBLICANS ON THE FACULTY?
IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT DIVERSITY, THAT ISIt's amazing that the only way that most people can talk about educational diversity is to
talk about race. As if the quantity of melanin is the most important measure of who you are and what you believe.
Harvard: We are pleased the court has affirmed policies like ours that promote compelling educational interests in inclusiveness. We will continue to pursue those interests with energy and care.
Virginia Tech: We are pleased we can use race as a factor in achieving diversity.
Duke: Our admissions policies reflect the principle that the Supreme Court has reaffirmed, namely that student diversity is an essential component of higher education's quality.
Michigan: This is a resounding affirmation that will be heard across the land, from our college classrooms to our corporate boardrooms.
But a suprising statement comes from
Colgate: We look at each student very uniquely and evaluate them qualitatively. So, certainly, race is important, [b]ut what part of the country that they come from and whether they're a cello player or a lacrosse player is important, too.
So, now we know that the important factors in becoming educated among a diverse student body are skin color, choice of symphonic stringed instrument, and your favorite native american influenced sport. I bet it would be more educational, from a diversity perspective, for a student at Duke or Michigan or Colgate to share a table in organic chemistry with some poor trailer park teenage mother from Arkansas with a criminal record.
