European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday May 30, 1991 the stars and stripes. A Page 13 commentary Ronald Brownstein democrats see 92 As springboard to 96 a Subtle shift in attitude is under Way that should begin to fill out the roster of democratic presidential contenders Over the next few months. Calculations have not changed that president Bush is a prohibitive favorite to win re election in 1992. But democratic strategists increasingly arc viewing 1992 As the platform for 1996 a when most expect the democrats presidential prospects to look much brighter. With senior democrats such As Senate majority Leader George j. Mitchell already circling around the Opportunity to run against Dan Quayle or a Republican party divided by his overthrow Many party leaders expect a crowded Field four years from now. For some lesser known candidates., the Only Way to compete meaningfully in 1996 May be to first create a National identity with a bid in 1992. A if you re part of that younger group a says los Angeles attorney Mickey Kantor a Veteran democratic operative a a you be got to establish yourself prior to 1996 or else you re going to be left at the Gate by better known better financed  using one race to build for the next a As Gary Hart did in establishing himself As the 1988 front runner with a Strong showing in 1984 a is even More attractive than usual because the Lack of candidates has left such an enormous vacuum. A people Are looking at one of the weakest Fields we be had in a Long time a one democratic strategist close to several potential candidates says a and sayings Why not me a a a a younger democrats now seeing potential. Nominees in their Mirror include West Virginia sen. John d. A a Jay Rockefeller in 53 Iowa sen. Tom Markin 51 and Arkansas gov. Bill Clinton 44. More than the Long shot recent Entrance of former mass. Sen. Pau e. Tsongas 50, or the Likely candidacy of Virginia gov. L. Douglas Wilder 60, the rumblings from Rockefeller Harkin and Clinton Are pressuring two other potential contenders House majority Leader Richard a Gephardt 50, and Tennessee sen. Albert Gore jr., 43. Both have been Uncertain about entering a 1992 race that offers at this Point so Little Prospect of ultimate Success but now advisers to both men Are openly wondering whether either can afford to stay out. Those advisers worry that if Gore or Gephardt sit out next year they May find themselves eclipsed in 1996 by another talented Young contender burnished and seasoned in 1992. A the second tier of candidates is putting pressure on the first tier a says one Democrat close to  f. Will sources close to Gephardt save that he is again actively contemplating the race after appearing to Back away earlier this year. Gore is not expected to decide whether to run until later this summer. The calculations facing Gore and Gephardt Are much More Complex than those for Harkin Rockefeller and Clinton. Conventional Wisdom holds that barring a disaster candidates Are not diminished by failing in a first try for the nomination. But if Gore or Gephardt run and fail in 1992, they would be tagged As two time losers. Even More acute than the risk of failure May be the risk of Success. Most democratic strategists believe that either Gore or Gephardt with one race already to their credit could actually win the nomination next year a and then face the possibility of crippling their National career with a one sided loss to a popular incumbent. In recent history democrats have not been kind to their losing presidential nominees. Though republicans allowed i960 loser Richard m. Nixon another Chance in 1968, not since Adlai Stevenson  1950s has a losing Democrat been Given a second nomination. More often in recent years the loser has not even been Given a second look. \ some democrats believe 1992 could be different is. Specially Lor a younger nominee who Likely would be running with very Low expectations of Victory. But that proposition remains untested a enough so to make one democratic consultant say flatly a ideally what you want to do this year is come  for the  c Tho los angolan times. Norm go a a a. A a \ another Rule gone awry a a within group score conversion is a euphemism for a race forming a which is a euphemism for a form of a affirmative action a which is today a euphemism for reverse discrimination adopted when a compensatory Opportunity proved to be a Jawbreaker. But perhaps before you have mastered the obfuscating language of compassion a guilty conscience race forming May be dead. It May be killed by the democratic device of asking those who favor it a mostly democrats a to actually vote for it. Rep. Henry Hyde r-ill., recently tried to attach to this years so called a civil rights Bill a euphemism for a quota promoting and lawyer enriching nil an amendment to outlaw race forming. Democrats rejected it in committee on a 21-13 party line vote. Under race forming scores achieved by Job applicants on certain tests Are segregated by racial groups. Individuals scores Are reported not in relation to All those taking the test but Only in relation to others in the individuals racial groups. Each year state employment agencies evaluate prospective Job applicants for private employers using the general apr Titue test Battery. In a recent year scores for Whites hispanics and Blacks in the 50th percentiles of their groups were 305, 295 and 276, respectively. Such scores were reported As identical. A Black with 305 Points was at the 84th percentile among Blacks. That score was reported As substantially Superior to a White applicants 305. A employers getting test scores Are not told the applicants races. Hence the employers do not know that Black and hispanic applicants have inflated scores. At least 33 states and an unknown number of employers practice race forming. Defenders of race rior Ming say the policy is justified because the tests Are flawed. But if so the answer is to change the tests not Cook the results. The real reason for race forming is that any test is Apt to produce uncomfortable a statistical disparities Quot by racial groups until the schools that Many Blacks attend and the Home environments from which Many Blacks go to school and the neighbourhoods through which Thi a walk to school Are improved. \ race forming does not have Many if any explicit defenders in Congress. We Are ostensibly a nation of Laws but no lawmaker has Ever voted for race forming. It was concocted in the dying Days of the Carter administration enlarged by Reagan a labor department and belatedly questioned by his Justice department. The Bush administration is brooding about this obvious violation of equal Protection of the  of those who voted against he de a amendment said archly that Congress should not interfere with a regulatory matter. Trust today a liberals to tight to keep their Agenda out of harms democracy a Way., this years a civil rights Bill is designed to Force employers to choose Between preemptively adopting quotas or risking litigation that requires them to prove themselves innocent of a a unintentional discrimination. Such a a discrimination can occur by the use of an employment test that produces statistically a a wrong results. Even if the Bill a final version explicitly bars quotas no prudent person will be reassured. Quot Hubert Humphrey the prime mover of the 1964 civil rights act denied that quotas or other preferred treatments of any group were required by that Law. But Quot race conscious policies soon were required. A a quotas heaven forfend. Only  and Quot timetables for removing Quot statistical disparities and  any employment practice that has a a disparate Impact on certain government certified victim groups not for example asian americans whose test scores Are segregated with Whites scores can make an employer vulnerable to costly litigation. Hence Many employers like race forming which helps them fill de Facto quotas. The phrase a race conscious remedy Quot is today a preferred euphemism Lor policies like race forming. Because a such a a remedies so obviously Poison society it is reasonable to suspect that the poisoning is an aim of some members of the a civil rights lobby. Increasingly that lobby exists to administer a racial spoils system. Hence that lobby has a stake in the competitive cultivation of group grievances. The stain of officially sponsored racism is spreading everywhere. In a Story on the self segregation of students on campuses the new York t Imes reports a minority students say they Are made to feel like they do not belong on campuses where affirmative action casts doubt on their qualifications.�?�, a a. 1� a Quot Jug a. 1. A Black student to at Stanford University explains her preference of a predominantly Black dorm a i did no to want a whole layer of challenges about whether i deserved to be Here. I figured that if i lived in a Black environment it  come  a Black student at Berkeley complains a i feel like i have Amer native action stamped on my  this sad disfigurement of the academic experience is like race forming another aspect of liberalism a apartheid of   i Post woes group