Missouri Turns Back Anti-Civil Rights Initiative
Our guest blogger is Glenn Burleigh, ACORN’s statewide lead organizer on the Missouri voter education campaign.
While the struggle for the Democratic nomination has dragged on and taken up the attention of the progressive movement, there has been a sharp battle fought out in five states over the deceptively-titled Civil Rights Initiatives (CRI), which would ban Affirmative Action programs. This past weekend, the progressive movement in Missouri scored a major victory and stopped this reactionary initiative from making the 2008 ballot.
This past Sunday, the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MOCRI) failed to submit the signatures necessary for qualification for the 2008 general election ballot. Unlike in other states where the CRI’s have failed to qualify because signatures were disqualified, in Missouri they didn’t even bother with turning in signatures. Why? Community, labor, faith, and other progressive minded forces organized quickly and effectively, to educate the voters about what MOCRI was really about:
“They talk about California and Washington being progressive states, but Ward Connerly won there. In Missouri, we beat him,” said Brandon Davis, Chair of the WeCAN Coalition that led a successful grass-roots effort to defeat the so-called Missouri Civil Rights initiative.
MOCRI was the Missouri right’s favorite choice for a wedge issue on the 2008 ballot. With the Democratic nominee assured of being either an African-American or a woman, mobilizing reactionary anti-civil rights voters was seen as a key piece of their electoral strategy in many swing states. With McCain’s nomination, the Republicans feel more confident in Arizona, one of the other swing states that they have launched a CRI petition drive, and so Missouri (and our potential electoral votes) became a central battleground in this struggle. The right mobilized massive financial resources to Missouri. In the final weeks, they were willing to pay to fly signature gatherers to the state, pay for their hotel rooms, and pay up to $10 per signature. In the end, this was still not enough to overcome a well-organized progressive movement.
Since this victory, the right has panicked and is trying to rush wedge issues such as Photo ID and TABOR onto the ballot by way of the legislature. In the end this victory positions Missouri, once again, as a battleground state where progressive victory is possible. It also shows that progressive forces here are organized and have matured into a statewide political power.
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Well done, Progressives!!
May 10th, 2008 at 2:07 pmMOCRI was the Missouri right’s favorite choice for a wedge issue on the 2008 ballot.
It looks like the Rovian approach to politics no longer works. Now if somebody would just tell the media we might get somewhere.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
May 10th, 2008 at 2:14 pmI think this would have been a significantly better article if Glenn had spent a little more time spelling out what the initiative was about. There’s almost no background here, and for some of us the acronym is meaningless.
May 10th, 2008 at 2:39 pmgreat news! doesn’t it feel that the tide is turning in many areas at once? Maybe there is hope yet! It’s exciting to see money failing and people winning.
May 10th, 2008 at 2:52 pmThis is good news.
Times they are a-changin’.
Maybe.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:06 pmwait I just realized that might have been a joke. If it was, sorry! (see how Canadian I am)
May 10th, 2008 at 3:08 pmpickingcotton Says:
Good job progressives! Keep the law in tack that helps keep racism alive!!!!
In the hearts of lazy rednecks…
May 10th, 2008 at 3:19 pmIt also shows that progressive forces here are organized and have matured into a statewide political power.
In state after state, Republicans in Very Republican districts have LOST to the democratic candidates. Witness speaker Hastert’s old seat.
President Bush is INDEED a Uniter. He has United the voters to sweep the republicans out of office in a landslide this November.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:25 pmThe death throes of the right wing. Fun to watch.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:35 pmpickingcotton Says:
Good job progressives! Keep the law in tack that helps keep racism alive!!!!
Seems todays troll has some reading comprehension disability issues.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:02 pmBadger Says:
He has United the voters to sweep the republicans out of office in a landslide this November.
A landside sweeping all the repukes out would be a wonderful sight to behold.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:04 pmIf it’s a republican, it’s just safer to asume it’s a racist. And that includes Hillary.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:06 pmBoy. You can always count on the Bushits to name EVERYTHING exactly the opposite of what it truly is. Idiots.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:36 pm“[K]eep the law in tack“…?
Jebus. That’s scraping the bottom of the Stupid barrel - even for a troll.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:39 pmpickingcotton Says:
gummitch Says:
deeply worried canadian Says:
You not even American citizens! Worry about your own country !
I’m not? Uh oh. I could have sworn this is a US passport . . . hmmm, born in Ohio. Is Ohio a Canadian province?
May 10th, 2008 at 4:56 pmLiving in Missouri, and knowing the Bushite affiliations of our Governor and Senators, I am pleasantly surprised.
May 10th, 2008 at 5:43 pmCVI in Bush Neonazi speak means a disintegration of civil rights. He’s a comedian when it comes to labeling things with KKKarl as his trained monkey.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:30 pmClearly, the kook-aid drinking, nazi-thinking, highly stinking Reptards are “running scared”. The moment that Obama becomes the Candidate, they may as well leave the country until December. It’s over for the GOPerverts.
May 10th, 2008 at 6:32 pmGood idea!
May 10th, 2008 at 8:25 pmWhile the struggle for the Democratic nomination has dragged on and taken up the attention of the progressive movement…
The struggle has taken up the attention of the progressive movement everywhere except on TP, which inexplicably continues to ignore the most important news of the day.
May 11th, 2008 at 10:46 am