The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative has been cancelled, at least for this year. “Because of internal disorganization, internal discord, legal decisions, and [campaign founder] Ward Connerly’s health problems, there was some rough sledding for a while,” said state rep Leon Drolet, in the Detroit Free Press. Supporters say they’ll try to get on the ballot in 2006. I hope they do–but failing to make it this year is a big setback, given the momentum they should have had following the Supreme Court’s lousy decisions in the University of Michigan race-preference cases. Unfortunately, a lot of Michigan Republicans are probably patting themselves on the back for helping quash the initiative–you know, for making sure a “divisive” measure didn’t reach the ballot, because race preferences “bring us together” or somesuch nonsense. (See my article here on GOP opposition to MCRI.) As it happens, polls have indicated that voters probably would have approved MCRI. Michigan conservatives should bear this in mind and extract promises from gubernatorial candidates that they’ll support MCRI in 2006.