Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Terry McAuliffe released a statement today objecting to the Bush administration’s opposition to quotas. McAuliffe’s comments come on the day the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on a landmark affirmative action case that affects higher education.
“With this administration,” McAuliffe said, “the message to African Americans, Hispanics and other minorities, the message is clear: your concerns come dead last.” To which Catholic League president William Donohue responded:
“The effrontery of Terry McAuliffe is unparalleled: here is a man who runs with anti-Catholics and has the gall to sell himself as a champion of equality. Whatever one thinks about affirmative action, it is beyond belief that any public person who supports it would allow himself to be used by anti-Catholics like Frances Kissling.
“To this date, McAuliffe refuses to drop the link on the DNC’s website to Kissling’s Catholics for a Free Choice. That he has angered Catholics—including those who differ on abortion—by his association with a known anti-Catholic bigot is indisputable. At issue is not abortion but bigotry: Catholics for a Free Choice has worked overtime to undermine the Vatican at the U.N. and to bash the Catholic Church on a whole range of subjects. This explains why it has twice been denounced by the bishops as a fraudulent organization that is hostile to Catholicism.
“Once the presidential campaign gets into full swing, the DNC will be forced to explain itself to Catholic voters. Catholics will want to know why African Americans and Hispanics are treated with respect while the leadership in the Democratic Party breaks bread with Catholic bashers.”
