At the last Chicago convention, under the bad Mayor Daley, the cops whacked Yippies. Now, under the good Mayor Daley, peace reigns in the party, and the convention is in a neighborhood you wouldn’t dare visit at night unarmed under normal circumstances. Progress.
The media, quick to point out an alleged “shortage” of women and minorities at the Republican Convention, missed a more interesting story at the Democratic Convention—the blatant resort to quotas in the selection of delegates. Democratic National Committee rules forbid “mandatory quotas,” and Bill Clinton repeatedly proclaims his opposition to them. Yet the 1996 Delegate Selection Rules require all state parties to adopt “specific goals and timetables” ensuring that each delegation exactly matches the Democratic electorate in the state in terms of color and sex. Rigid mathematical models and formulas are spelled out, and penalties ensue for any shortfall. As the Wall Street Journal points out, the result is a revealing gloss on how a re-elected Clinton Administration is likely to interpret its “opposition” to quotas.
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