Thanks But No Thanks

Posted: April 24, 2014 | tobacco | big tobacco, politics, tobacco | 0 Comments

Politics can be a dirty game. Money talks and nonsense walks but things have a way of getting sticky when campaigns get shady donations. Every politician needs financial backing to run a campaign. Advertising and travel aren’t cheap, so they all rely on 3^rd party supporters to donate money to their cause. Problem is, nothing is ever free. When donations are made, there’s an unwritten expectation on the part of the donator, to get some preferential treatment – or at least a chance to get the would-be politician’s ear.

Enter big tobacco.

According to a Deseret News article, alcohol and tobacco companies donated $96,000 to local Utah elections (combined) in 2012. Alcohol is responsible for $37,850 of it and big tobacco footed the remaining $58,200. The idea here is simple: alcohol and tobacco donate money and in return, expect to get (at the very least) a sympathetic ear from a newly elected politician. Given the type(s) of industry however, the public doesn’t tend to look favorably on politicians who accept these donations.

One candidate in particular, Governor Gary Herbert, denied the donation from big tobacco and even went so far as to return the check for $1000 that they sent. With all the new smoking laws and seemingly endless tax hikes on the price per pack, its no wonder that big tobacco is scrambling, looking for a way to stop – or at least slow the bleeding. They need lawmakers and decision makers to see eye to eye with them but a lot of people don’t look positively toward a product that they know is harmful. To make matters worse for big tobacco, all campaign contributions need to be reported and made public by any candidate. This means, that any candidate who accepts a big tobacco donation has to disclose that information and deal with potential backlash from the same community they are trying to solicit votes from. You can’t anger the public and expect them to write your name on the ballot.

Politics are a popularity contest and big tobacco is losing friends left and right.