Tobacco Dole

What do Bob Dole’s telemarketer, his chief California strategist, and one of his national co-chairs have in common? Big Tobacco.

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Texas Attorney General Dan Morales broadcast a clear message last fall: If tobacco companies were making millions in Texas, then they could help contribute to the billions in Medicaid costs spent in Texas for smoking-related illnesses. Several other attorneys general already had filed lawsuits against the tobacco industry to recover such health care costs. But before Morales could follow their lead, half a dozen tobacco industry lobbyists visited him and delivered a private poll from the political consulting firm Public Opinion Strategies.

The poll, commissioned in January by the Covington & Burling law firm on behalf of the four largest tobacco firms and the industry’s advocacy group, The Tobacco Institute, claimed the people of Texas wouldn’t support Morales if he filed the suit. The proof? Two-thirds of the more than 800 Texans polled had said they wouldn’t favor the proposed lawsuit.

But then Morales took a closer look at the poll. He discovered it was actually a “push-poll,” designed not to gauge public opinion but sway it. The poll’s telemarketing script began with basic, unobtrusive political questions–then quickly zeroed in on Morales. “Elected officials are held to high standards in public life,” the script read. “Here are some reasons people are giving to vote against Dan Morales.”

Among the reasons: Morales was “pro-affirmative action”; he “supports gun control”; and his 1994 campaign contributed money to Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam. (Morales’ staffers had purchased two tickets to a dinner thrown by a local chapter of the Nation of Islam.) Those polled were also told that Morales’ proposed lawsuit could cost thousands of jobs, prevent the attorney general from fighting crime, and reward only a few wealthy personal injury lawyers. Finally–the spin complete–those polled were asked what they thought of the suit. It’s hardly surprising that they overwhelmingly opposed it.

Despite its bias, the poll served its purpose: to deliver a not-so-veiled threat that, on a moment’s notice, the tobacco companies could make many more such calls throughout Texas and, through strategies such as push-polling, mobilize an untold number of voters against the suit–and against Morales.

Still, Morales proceeded with the suit.

And the man who runs the polling firm, William McInturff, went back to his day job–as chief pollster for Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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