The White House decision to jump into a Supreme Court battle against affirmative action in college admissions means there'll be no more pretexts about trying to appease African-American voters.

President Bush is betting, along with the Republican Party, that the black voting bloc is not strong enough to affect key congressional and presidential races anymore.

Why shouldn't Republicans assume that? It was true during the last round of midterm elections, which swept Republican candidates back in control in a number of states and in the Senate.

By attacking the affirmative action program at the University of Michigan, the White House gets in a dig at announced Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt. The University of Michigan is his alma mater. He has been slow to respond on the case, only recently announcing that he'll file his own friend of the court brief supporting affirmative action.

This landmark case has become a potent tool in presidential politics. The president is playing his own special race card - rallying around him all those who, let's face it, are tired of seeing black people get ahead of them in line. The programs have benefited numerous women, but mostly they're known for helping blacks.

Which raises this question: If the affirmative-action program only helped white women, Asians or people with disabilities, would there be this hue and cry to be rid of it?

Tilting the playing field

The White House move also appeals to people who blindly see affirmative action as the only factor putting the playing field out of kilter.

In real life, we know that's not so.

How many of us know people who've gotten into a desirable college, landed a job or received a promotion because of family connections, money or social influence? How many people do we know who've learned of or won key government or business contracts through networking at exclusive clubs or private parties, or even from meetings in the men's room?

I've known people who got internships through neighbors, scholarships through their parents' employers (the Enquirer has such a program) and tips on new jobs for personal favors.

Informal systems tip the playing field all the time, rightly or wrongly. It's a system that, so far, has worked best for white males. Not all white males, of course.

Until affirmative action came along, qualified women, blacks, Hispanics, Asians and people with disabilities often found themselves overlooked and undervalued.

Affirmative action is a nudge, reminding college recruiters, employers, contract administrators and others that they must broaden their pool and give the less connected a chance to compete.

The Bengals' choice

Even the National Football League has stepped up, recently encouraging its team owners to include minorities in their pools of potential coach candidates. And the system worked well in Cincinnati, which just gained Marvin R. Lewis Jr. as new head coach for the Bengals.

Mr. Lewis is well qualified for the position, don't get me wrong. But he has been qualified for years, and still open coaching positions passed him by.

Until this year, as the NFL faces pressure from Johnnie Cochran, O.J. Simpson's lawyer.

There have been some misuses of affirmative action and some sabotaging. Some people have gotten opportunities they squandered.

But most, I bet, haven't.

When affirmative action works, you end up with a star candidate like Mr. Lewis, getting the attention he or she deserves.

E-mail damos@enquirer.com or phone 768-8395