Smoke in Their Eyes: Lessons in Movement Leadership from the Tobacco Wars

31. Worse Than Nothing!

217 31 Worse Than Nothing! However tepid ENACT’s praise for McCain might have been, Stan Glantz once again broadcast his displeasure to all within reach on the Internet: ENACT does not list the preemption and immunity provisions in the bill as a problem, so one can only conclude that they accept those provisions. ENACT has also backed off “full authority for the FDA” by accepting McCain’s compromise position. ENACT would “prefer” it to be different , but seems willing to go along with a law that will create a new industry [excuse for] suing the FDA. On March 30, Ralph Nader wrote a letter to the president decrying any legislative “liability limits”—not just broad “immunity”—as part of a deal: A deal on liability limits as part of a “comprehensive” package will decompress the political climate, create a sense in which tobacco seems a “finished” issue and remove the litigation spur to media, public, legislative and regulatory focus on tobacco. The result will be to foreclose, or at least slow, future public policy health innovations. The history of efforts to tame Big Tobacco makes it clear that this approach should be avoided at all costs. And to make sure no one missed the message, Nader’s Public Citizen issued a broadside to all SAVE LIVES members, with the headline : “A CAP ON LIABILITY = IMMUNITY FOR BIG TOBACCO. Rob Weissman and Russell Mokhiber wrote an article for the Nadersponsored Multinational Monitor, delineating the many “reasons why the industry loves the McCain bill.” “Outstanding,” wrote Stan Glantz in admiration. “The McCain bill is indeed the ‘briar patch’ that the industry wants to be tossed into!” Reading the Weissman-Mokhiber 218 Smoke in Their Eyes critique, Matt noted wryly, “It’s interesting that none of the criticisms actually relate to reducing tobacco use or preserving the rights of individuals .” Who was paying attention to this ferocious but insular group of activists, none of whom but Glantz had access to the mainstream media ? Certainly Dr. Koop, who was constantly reinforced in his growing militancy by Glantz and by others who were both resonating with the negative chorus and counseling its members, like Dr. Robert Mecklenburg. Kessler, in turn, was resonating to Koop’s negativism, and the mainstream media paid attention to Koop and Kessler. By April 20, when he appeared before the full Senate Democratic caucus, Dr. Koop had developed a full head of denunciatory steam. He dwelled at length and with passion on every large and small shortcoming in the bill, and then he came to the liability provisions: The liability portion of S1415 is the most egregious to the public health community. Indeed if there were one segment which I think might have been written by the tobacco industry, it is this one. In short, S 1415 is a windfall for the tobacco industry. Just in case anyone was confused, Koop assured the Democratic caucus : “Let nothing that is said today nor anything that has been quoted in the press—sometimes out of context—as said separately by Dr. Kessler or me indicate that Dr. Kessler and I are not of one solid mind on the issue of tobacco control.” Matt and Bill Novelli did manage to publish an op-ed article in the Washington Post, on April 24—under their own names as president and executive vice president of the Center, not on behalf of ENACT— in which they were able to pay modest tribute to McCain and his committee for an action that “threw off decades of influence by the tobacco industry” and a bill that offers “the best opportunity yet to reduce tobacco use by young people.” They then proceeded to urge the Senate to adopt a series of needed improvements. Both temperate and intemperate assaults on the McCain bill framed the broader media response. The editorial boards of the newspapers that Washington heeds, the Washington Post and the New York Times, as well as others that had supported strong legislation, took up the negative trend: “Rough Draft on Tobacco,” headlined the Post; “Make the Tobacco Bill Tougher,” said the Times; and “Snuff Out Poor Tobacco The Rise and Fall of the McCain Bill 219 Deal” cried USA Today. The McCain bill was reported out of the Commerce Committee on April 1. It would not reach the floor of the Senate until May 18. Once again, as it had with the chorus of critiques against...