Ore. cigarette tax rejected after spendy TV campaign
In the end, backers of a cigarette tax increase for children’s health couldn’t assuage voters’ worries about monkeying with the state constitution ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ an issue stoked by a record-shattering $12 million TV blitz financed by the tobacco industry. The result was a shellacking of Measure 50 ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ voters trounced it by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin in Tuesday’s special election ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ and a stinging setback for backers of the effort to extend health care to 100,000 uninsured Oregonians. Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a leading backer of the plan, said he still thinks most Oregonians support an expansion of children’s health care but were heavily influenced by the advertising…. “What happened was, the tobacco industry bought the election,” Kulongoski said in an interview Tuesday night with The Associated Press.
Since I arrived in Portland at the beginning of last month, it’s been impossible to ignore the barrage of television and radio advertising against Measure 50, which would have raised the tax on ciagrettes to pay for children’s health care in Oregon. The tobacco industry was able to spend literally whatever amount they felt it would take to defeat the initiative, and in the end they got what they paid for. The scare tactics worked.
Of course, it’s possible (but no likely) that Measure 50 would have gone down to defeat without $12 million in tobacco money buying the industry’s desired result, but Big Tobacco was able to ensure the result they wanted by overwhelming supporters of Measure 50, who simply didn’t have the financial resources to get their message in front of the voters to the same degree that Big Tobacco could.
The anti-Measure 50 campaign was typical of Big Tobacco- cheaps appeals to emotion, simplistic arguments, scary music- and designed to appeal to those who would rather react than think. None of the ads I saw on television or heard on radio could be accused of appealig to reason.
Somehow, I think the initiative and referendum process wasn’t conceived with the idea that he who spends the most money on the most simplistic and emotionsl arguments wins. Welcome to Oregon, the best example of grass-roots democracy that money can buy.
The initiative and referendum process is a wonderful concept- the people being given an opportunity to directly express their will at the ballot box. Direct democracy at it’s best, right? Well, the reality of execution seldom matches the high-minded concept of allowing the sheeple to express themselves.
Initiative and referendum could be a great idea. The reality, though, is that here in Oregon it’s too often turned into government of, by, and for special interests. If you’re willing to spend a lot of money, the odds are pretty good that you can buy yourself some prime democracy. Look what $12 million got Big Tobacco.
So who says that democracy isn’t for sale?
