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Original URL:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion/article/0,1299,DRMN_38_1537720,00.html
On Point: Who voted, where
Rocky Mountain News
November 11, 2002
Ever since the heiress Pat Stryker pumped $3 million into the anti-Amendmnent 31
campaign, its sponsor has decried the
gullible nature of "conservative" Colorado voters ready to believe advertising
scaremongering. In the wake of 31's loss, Ron Unz was at it again.
"As the victorious consultants of the Colorado No campaign have proudly
described to local Colorado journalists, they concluded early on that their most
effective message to Colorado's conservative white voters was to raise fears
that Amendment 31 would mean placing Latino immigrant students in regular
classrooms with Anglo children, thereby causing 'chaos' and 'disrupting'
education.
"Certainly the visually gripping images, 'doomsday' music, and fear-inspiring
language . . . brought this message into every
Colorado home containing a television set."
Sure it did, although the negative campaign seemed to work best not in the homes
of "conservative white voters" but in those of liberal voters of every hue. If
Unz had a better feel for Colorado, he'd have noticed that the three counties in
which Amendment 31 suffered its most staggering defeats were Boulder, Pueblo and
Denver - hardly bastions of fear over the prospect of another kid who speaks
Spanish.
JEFFCO STRUGGLES
So guess which metro county had trouble getting its votes counted last week?
Yes, Jefferson County, again. This time the
excuse was a glitch with a new state-of-the-art voting system. It used to be
punch-card problems. And in 2004? Stay tuned.
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