One Man Standing Against Race-Based Laws (Edward Blum)

New York Times ^ | February 23, 2012 | MORGAN SMITH

[reaganaut1]

Edward Blum has the kind of zeal for public policy that usually leads to a career in politics.

Mr. Blum does not like elections, though — he has lost two of them. And he has discovered what may be a more powerful instrument for advancing his beliefs: the court system.

A self-described autodidact who has no law degree or formal scholarly background, Mr. Blum is the driving force behind Fisher v. University of Texas, the affirmative action case headed to the United States Supreme Court that could halt the use of race in university admissions.

For Mr. Blum, the lawsuit crowns a two-decade-long devotion to disputing race-based laws, forged during an unsuccessful Congressional campaign in a Houston district that he later proved was unconstitutionally engineered along racial lines.

But it will not be his first time at the nation’s high court.

Through his legal defense fund, the Project on Fair Representation, he shepherded the closely watched 2009 Voting Rights Act case Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder through the justice system.

The court’s ruling was narrower than expected, limiting its decision to the Austin district rather than overturning, as Mr. Blum intended, the so-called preclearance provision of the law requiring many state and local governments, mostly in the South, to seek federal permission before making even minor changes to voting procedures. The Austin ruling did, however, appear to invite future challenges.

Now, with Fisher, Mr. Blum is behind another hotly anticipated case. But for all his involvement in high-profile litigation that strikes along popularly held conservative ideological lines, he is a surprisingly solitary actor.

Despite the organizational heft its name may imply, Mr. Blum’s Project on Fair Representation, based in Washington, is a one-man show. The contact number listed on the site is his cellphone.

[reaganaut1]

Good work, Mr. Blum. You are doing the work that many supposedly conservative politicians ought to be doing.

[RightOnline]

Sorry, but Mr. Blum, God bless ‘im, hasn’t the slightest clue when it comes to the concept of “strategic alliances”. There are plenty of Conservative organizations that would probably have gladly joined with him in this effort. He obviously is either too ego-driven or ignorant for such teaming efforts.

Stupid, really. What matters is winning, not whose name(s) go/goes up in lights with such a victory.

[theBuckwheat]

“A self-described autodidact who has no law degree or formal scholarly background,...”

For all its focus on “diversity”, the left doesn’t quite know how to relate to someone who is not a product of the leftist-vetted educational establishment. Usually, they are treated as a nobody unless and until they rise so far in achievement they can be classified as a outlier eccentric.

This job is made easier should the person in question show leftist sympathies. If they should show non-leftist (rational) sympathies, they have to rise even further before getting visibility. A good example of this would be the Koch brothers, whose debut into national public life in the Times was almost certainly framed by vilification.

This is a sad commentary on the left, for human progress depends on outlier ‘super-producers’ far more than they care to realize.

[GladesGuru]

I suggest re-reading the article. In it is clear indication the man does find support.

That is a minor miracle, as most groups are mere ‘empire builders’, gathering funds and using the interest for fun and more profit.

[Condor51]

“(Edward Blum) A self-described autodidact who has no law degree or formal scholarly background ”

ELITIST ALERT! ELITIST ALERT!
NY Slimes using ten dollar words in order to denigrate the ignorant peons in flyover country who don't have a clue as to what a 'autodidact' is or means in plain English. Which is -- he's 'Self Taught'.

So exsqueeze me NY Slimes but IMO that's 100% better than having some bs law degree after being taught by some phony 'constitutional scholar' (paging Barry Obama), or some Pinko-Commie Domestic Terrorist law professor (paging Bernadine Dorhan) who hates the USA and thinks our Constitution is a suicide pact that can be used against us.

Ergo NY Slimes, take your autodidact and shove it up your anal canal.

[gaijin]

The left revels in the notion they’re out for The Little Guy, but here we see them sneering at Mr. Blum precisely BECAUSE he is the little guy:

Presto-change-o, now the little guy is No Good.

Notice also the triumphant tone when they say the contact number is his cell-phone.

Hey....SO WHAT...?

Oh gosh, I’ll bet Mr. Blum is even lacking a CHAUFFEUR, you know?