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Democrats Walk the Walk
by Lance Thompson

As the hard-fought primary season staggers to a close, an evident consensus among Democrats is that Barack Obama will be their nominee. This is commendable, at least from the perspective of consistency. For many years, Democrats have defended quotas, set-asides and affirmative action as necessary to “level the playing floor” for minorities, whether such programs apply to opportunities in education, employment or government contracts. Now the Democrats have put their nominee where their mouths are–they will send an affirmative action candidate into the presidential fray.

The rationale of affirmative action programs is that without them, members of certain minorities would be unable to compete with others. The unexpressed implication is that these same individuals are inferior to those with whom they compete.

Never mind that affirmative action and quotas have lowered the value of minority achievements in every field of endeavor in which they apply. This is a natural result any time when educational degrees, prestigious jobs and lucrative contracts are awarded upon any other criterion than merit. As Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas stated in his biography, My Grandfather’s Son, he always felt that the years of hard work that he put into his education and his Yale law degree were discounted by whites who suspected that his achievement was a result of affirmative action.

By the same token, affirmative action programs obviously lower the overall quality of the groups to which they apply. When a fraction of any group is admitted for reasons other than merit and ability, the overall quality of that group suffers. Only when merit is the sole criterion for admission can quality standards be maintained at their highest level.

The Democrats’ two top contenders were both representatives of groups that have enjoyed the benefits of affirmative action programs. Barack Obama is black and Hillary Clinton is a woman. Arguably, Hillary Clinton had more experience and greater qualifications for the presidency, but her party seems to prefer her less-qualified opponent.

If nominated in August, Barack Obama will be one of the least qualified or experienced candidates from a major party ever to run for president. He served eight years in the Illinois state senate, and has served a little more than half a term as a United States Senator. That amounts to about three years in national office. His Democrat rival, Hillary Clinton, has been twice elected to the Senate, and prior to that was first lady during Bill Clinton’s two presidential terms, as well as his four terms as governor of Arkansas. For comparison, the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain, was a decorated hero during the Vietnam war, and has served two terms as a congressman, and is currently in his fourth term as a United States Senator.

But Barack Obama clearly meets the minimum requirements as a presidential candidate, he is immensely popular with a majority of Democrats, and in the party of affirmative action, those qualities and his minority status have placed him in the lead for the nomination. For those who doubt the role of race in Obama’s rise, perhaps they could name a white male with similar qualifications who topped the ticket for a major party in recent memory. Obama is often compared to President Kennedy. When Kennedy took office, he did so as a decorated war hero, and with the national experience of three terms as a congressman and two terms as a United States Senator.

Thus, the Democrats seem determined to enter the 2008 presidential election, one in which they enjoy significant advantages in the mood of the electorate, with a marginally qualified candidate chosen as much for his race as his qualifications. It is certainly possible that a majority of voters will agree with the Democrats, that the symbolism of electing a black president supercedes the requirement for experience and demonstrated ability. But polls consistently show that most Americans do not favor quotas or set-asides, whether it comes to where their kids go to school, who gets a good job, or what company wins a government contract. The majority of Americans simply want to see merit rewarded, because that is how excellence is attained.

It appears that we won’t have to trust polls on that topic for much longer. Americans will be able to vote on the merits of affirmative action in November.