An organization apparently called "Voter Information Guide" has been mailing out a voting flyer to Californians that appears designed to convince people that popular California Democrats, in addition to opposing Arnold's initiatives, endorse the position of big pharma and the energy companies on the other initiatives.
The voter guide appears to be targeted at Democrats – it says "IT'S BAD FOR DEMOCRATS!" next to the recommendation to vote NO on props like 77, and attributes quotes to people like Senators Feinstein and Boxer and Attorney General Lockyer. Then in carefully separated boxes it says to vote YES on 78, NO on 79, and NO on 80.
I don't have a scanner or anything to provide pictures with, but I'll put more details below the fold.
For those unfamiliar with the current California ballot initiatives: Prop 78 is a prescription drug initiative with vast amounts of pharmaceutical money behind it, and is intended as a counter to Prop 79 which actually gives the state some teeth in its price negotiations with pharmaceutical companies; Prop 80 is intended to curtail the idiocy caused by CA's energy deregulation (i.e. Enron etc. screwing the state out of billions while we have constant, random blackouts). Props 73-77 are Arnold's hobby horses: get unions off his back, kill school funding, etc...
The mailer is a single fold-over sheet. On the outside, the front has a picture of a bald eagle that looks like the one used by the post office with the words "VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE" above it, a box labelled "STOP ARNOLD!", and a box of full teeny disclaimer type (hmm, why would that possibly be there?); the back has 5 boxes: a "NO on 77 - IT'S BAD FOR DEMOCRATS" box that lists Boxer, Feinstein, and Lockyer as opponents of 77, a box with a picture stating that State Treasurer Phil Angelides opposes all 5 of Arnold's initiatives, a YES on 78 box, a NO on 79 box, and a NO on 80 box.
Next to the mailing address, it lists the local polling place for the addressee. How convenient and official looking...
The inside gives some rhetoric against Props 73, 74, and 75, lists the whole slate of propositions with their voting recommendation (NO on everything but 78), and reminds you to "Use this guide when you vote". Then there are five more boxes: another "NO on 77" box, this time mentioning Feinstein and the Congressman for our district, Mike Honda; then there's the requisite boxes for 78, 79, and 80; the last one just mentions a group that seems to be called "Save our emergency rooms". (Mike Honda explicitly endorses the opposite positions to the flyer on 78, 79, and 80 according to Alliance For A Better California, as do many California Dem groups.)
So, here's the disclaimer:
NOTICE TO VOTERS
THIS DOCUMENT WAS PREPARED BY VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE, NOT AN OFFICIAL POLITICAL PARTY ORGANIZATION. Appearance in this mailer does not necessarily imply endorsement by others appearing in this mailer, nor does it imply endorsement of or opposition to any issues set forth in this mailer. Appearance is paid for and authorized by each candidate and ballot measure designated by an *. Not paid for or authorized by candidates not designated by an *. Candidates for non-partisan office chosen without respect to party affiliation.
This is followed by a seal that says "Allied Printing Trades Council - Union Label - Southern Calif", which I assume just means that the flyer was printed at a union print shop.
The address for Voter Information Guide is given:
VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE
13701 Riverside Dr., #604
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
So the disclaimer appears to say that the mailer is paid for by things marked with an *. *s appear in two places on the mailer: one is the full slate of propositions, where * appears next to each vote recommendation; the other other is in the weird ad for "Save our emergency rooms".
Here's the full ER ad text:
*Save Our Emergency Rooms.
Tax tobacco to reduce teen smoking, rescue hospital
ERs, increase Smoking Prevention funding. SIGN OUR
PETITION NOW. www.saveemergencyrooms.com
The YES on 78 box on the outside back of the flyer mentions the group "Californians for Affordable Prescriptions" and a website www.yesprop78.org.
The corresponding NO on 79 box mentions the group "Californians Against the Wrong Prescription" and another website www.noprop79.org.
Now, these two groups also appear in the official voter guide sent out by the state as sources for information on their respective positions. However, these two organizations have the same address (1415 L St., Suite 1250, Sacramento, CA 95814) and website (www.calrxnow.org). (For both opposing positions, a single group, Health Access California, is listed, though with separate websites for each position.)
Anyhow, the whole production seems very carefully constructed to make sure that only positions that various Democrats actually hold are attributed to them, but to give the impression that they also support the industry positions on 78, 79, and 80.
It's possible that this flyer is only being sent to seniors (the flyer I have was sent to my mother, and I don't think I ever received one; I also don't know when she received it).