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M.C.R.I. RADIO AD LIKENS OPPONENTS TO SEGREGATIONISTS The campaign in support of Proposal 06-2, which would ban the use of affirmative action on the basis of race and gender in universities and government, unveiled its first radio ad of the campaign saying the proposal would end "government quotas" and accuses its opponents of being "like the die-hard segregationists" in using fear against the proposal. A spokesperson for one of the organizations opposing the proposal called the ad "hate-filled" and said voters in Michigan would not be fooled by the ad. Doug Tietz, campaign manager for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, said the ad would be on the air for "quite a while." He declined to discuss when the campaign would launch television ads or other radio ads. One of the groups opposing the proposal, One United Michigan, has had ads running on cable television since early summer talking about the importance of affirmative action to women. It has not run ads specifically opposing the proposal yet. The 60-second ad was launched Wednesday on stations across the state, Mr. Tietz said. It was released one day after a second opponent to the ballot proposal, By Any Means Necessary, asked the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to issue an injunction to block the proposal from being on the ballot while it appealed a decision by Detroit U.S. District Judge Arthur Tarnow (see related story). In the ad, a male voice says, "Too many working families in Michigan don't have an equal chance to compete for jobs or college admissions. That's wrong." The ad's voice goes on to say that the MCRI, Proposal 06-02, would "end government-sponsored discrimination" by enacting the "color-blind language of the 1964 Civil Rights Act." And the ad says that "sadly" like "die-hard segregationists" of the 1960s, opponents to the proposal are trying to stir opposition by using fear. "They're race baiting?" said David Waymire, a spokesperson for One United Michigan. "This is shocking," he said, although he also he was not surprised to see the organization "stoop so low. These are California-based politics used to inflame rather than enlighten." The ad is also misleading, Mr. Waymire charged, because quotas are already outlawed. "We know from sad experience what ignoring racism and discrimination against women does and we don't think Michigan voters will be fooled by these hate-filled ads."