Connerly is blaming Florida Supreme Court. To place initiative on 'sunshine state' ballot, proponents must first collect about 50,000 signatures, then submit proposition to state SC for approval. SC decides whether or not proposal meets FL requirements that ballot initiatives be limited to one topic and be easily understood.
Connerly's 'group' complicated matters for SC by submitting 4 separate petitions to SC last fall: one banning racial preferences in state hiring, second doing so for state contracting, third for higher ed. admissions, fourth covering all 3 issues and adding gender preferences. Court heard oral arguments couple of months ago. Questioning by justices at that time suggested they were skeptical of what is euphemistically called Florida Civil Rights Initiative. In any event, they still haven't issued ruling and Connerly has accused them of dragging their feet.
Connerly never gained support of state Rep. party, some of whom referred to him as 'carpetbagger' (I think Frances Bolton noted this some months ago on lbo). Affirmative Action has never been consistently/widely enforced in FL, while opinions polls indicate 60%+ opposition to AA, there has never been much mobilization against it. Associated General Contractors - Connerly's primary support group - of about 2000 white males receive over 95% of state contracts (guess they want them all).
Meanwhile, Rep. governor and Rep. majority state legislature have eliminated AA in higher ed. admissions, state contracting, state employment. Was Connerly (who was here in 1998 with no success at all) effort ruse allowing for implementation of Gov. Jeb Bush's ' kinder, gentler' 'One Florida' plan? Maybe, but that seems inconsistent with Connerly's bully demeanor. Plus, he asserts that Bush plan doesn't go far enough and he vows to return in 2002.
Decision to shut down (at least for now) may have been motivated, in part, by concern for impact initiative campaign might have on presidential election in FL. State has fourth largest number of electoral college votes (25) and Clinton was first Dem. prez candidate to win (1996) in almost half a century . Connerly not only supports GWB, he held fundraiser for him. Michael Hoover