But, if that's as far as you're going with affirmative action, I don't have issues with it. It makes a lot of sense to go out and find the best available candidates and then choose the top ones from that pool. Not going back and reading all the details of how many women were interviewed, what %age of the revised applicant pool was now women, and what %age of the hirees were women; this looks, on the surface, an awful lot like women were provided equality of OPPORTUNITY but not equality of OUTCOMES. If one provides equality of opportunity then they'll end up a lot closer with the outcome that they should end up with - the top people getting the jobs.
If there were, in fact, no women applicants then there was something wrong with the process. Regardless of who called attention to it, when it was brought to his attention, the Governor did something about it.
I won't speak for any other conservatives, but I don't take issue with providing equal opportunity; I do take issue with providing equal outcomes.