The November 6, 2007 election brought a stinging defeat to Oregon's cigarette tax increase. The proposal aimed to raise the state's cigarette tax by 84.5 cents a pack to pay for health insurance for about 100,000 additional poor Oregon children who currently have no coverage. Measure 50, as the tax was called, went down by a wide 60-40% margin.

Increasing cigarette taxes to fund health care is not a new idea, and tobacco industry efforts to defeat such measures aren't new either. What was new in this case was that tobacco interests poured a record $12 million into defeating Oregon's measure, making it the costliest election in Oregon's history. So stunning was the industry's effort that Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski openly accused the tobacco industry of "buying the election" in his state.

Old Dog, No New Tricks

The tobacco companies trotted out their most formulaic and time-tested strategies to defeat Oregon's tax measure: They created front groups with grassrootsy-sounding names designed to push voters' emotional buttons. R.J. Reynolds formed Oregonians Against the Blank Check, and hired their longtime Oregon lobbying ally Mark W. Nelson to head the group. Philip Morris formed "Stop the Measure 50 Tax Hike," and funded it with money from their parent company, Altria Corporate Services. The companies then determined which populist-sounding messages pushed voters' buttons the hardest while omitting any mention of the subject of health. They then purchased vast quantities of advertising to push these messages relentlessly onto Oregon voters.

The coal industry front group Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC) is seeking public relations help "in targeting the public, politicians, interest groups, and the media" on the national level, and also in Pennsylvania and Nevada. ABEC promotes coal as an "essential, affordable and increasingly clean" source of electricity. The National Journal recently reported that ABEC's budget for PR, advertising and "grassroots" organizing will nearly quadruple, from $8 million to $30 million a year. "Two words sum up why" the coal industry and its allies "opened their checkbooks," wrote the Journal -- "global warming." ABEC notes that "Nevada is perhaps one of the most volatile states in the west regions for ABEC's industry," so its PR work in the state will include issues management, as well as presidential candidate outreach and identifying "cities and communities critical to helping shape policy at the grassroots level." The Pennsylvania campaign will be less intense, involving "regulatory / legislative communications," "grassroots assistance," and various types of media outreach.

Two former food industry websites -- Best Food Nation and the Grow America Project -- are being merged and re-birthed as a new front group, the Center for Food Integrity (CFI). CFI's web domain was registered earlier this month by Charlie Arnot, who runs a small Missouri-based PR firm, CMA Consulting. CFI, which lists Monsanto as one of its supporters, states that it aims "to build consumer trust and confidence in the contemporary U.S. food system." Joseph Mendelson, the legal director of the Center for Food Safety, a consumer group, told Food NavigatorUSA.com that CFI is simply "a PR entity to try and battle regulations designed to create a safer food supply ... This is a way for it to promote its agenda under a green wash label." Mendelson also believes that the CFI's name was "chosen to try to distract attention from groups like ours and to confuse consumers." (Note: Mendelson is on the Center for Media and Democracy's Board of Directors.)

Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear power station. Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

One-time Greenpeace activist turned corporate PR consultant, Patrick Moore, has been hired by a Vermont group called Vermont Energy Partnership to help win a 20-year extension to the operating license of the aging Vermont Yankee nuclear power station. The continued operation of the nuclear plant, which is owned by Entergy, is being opposed by Nuclear-Free Vermont. Moore said that the storage of high-level nuclear waste on the banks of the Connecticut River in dry casks is "a perfectly safe and secure way to store" it. To which the president of Vermont's Senate, Peter Shumlin, retorted "I don't believe in Santa Claus anymore." Moore is also an "adviser" to New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance, which is campaigning for a 20-year license renewal for Entergy's Indian Point nuclear power plant. He is also a consultant to the Nuclear Energy Institute front group, the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition.

PR giant Weber Shandwick (WS) is helping the United Senior Association (USA), a 1.5 million member organization, with its PR needs. USA is backing the prescription drug bill that was passed by the House on June 28. O'Dwyer's PR Daily reports, "That bill is backed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which has made 'educational grants' to USA. PhRMA supports the House measure because it bans the government from setting prices for prescription drugs. It is against a more expansive drug plan that is being introduced in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Tim Ryan, a former PhRMA staffer, is the WS executive in charge of the USA account. He said WS created ads in support of the House measure, but would not go into detail about overall strategy." O'Dwyer's also reports that the AARP, a 35 million member group, is critical of the House bill, saying it has a serious "coverage gap."