David Mixner, doing business as DBM Associates, as consultant to the Tobacco Institute "for the benefit of the Committee Against
Grant Gillham, Joe Shumate & Associates, Inc. Sacramento, CA
This memo offers insight into how the tobacco industry uses a combination of psychology and mass media to influence elections. In 1998 California's Proposition 10, a measure to substantially raise cigarette taxes, made it onto the ballot was headed for a statewide vote. The tobacco industry was working hard behind the scenes to oppose it.
In order to influence elections, Tobacco Institute consultants do careful studies (through focus groups) to find specific themes that will resonate with specific blocks of voters. In this particular memo, a Tobacco Institute consultant is discussing how to influence gay and lesbian voters in California to oppose the tax measure. It was a difficult task because gay and lesbian groups were a constituency whose leaders, tobacco institute consultants knew, often opposed the tobacco industry. Nevertheless the pro-tobacco forces planned to forge ahead by doing an "end-run" around the gay/lesbian leadership:
"...Since it is apparent that we are not going to have the endorsement of most Gay and Lesbian leadership, it is important to use these campaign tools to bypass that and go directly to the Gay and Lesbian voter with a message that will resonate."
Finding "messages that resonate" means finding themes with particularly strong appeal to certain targeted groups, in this case gays and lesbians. Such targeted themes enable the tobacco industry to "push people's buttons," and convince them vote against the tax measure. The writer of the memo explains that there are several themes important to the gay and lesbian community which they could exploit:
"There are several areas that would have special interest to this community. That would include lifestyle regulation, government intrusion into private lives, and removing choice as an option for one's life decisions. These themes need to be developed carefully by focus groups and polling."
[emphasis in original]
Accordingly, the industry consultants planned to craft targeted messages to "push the buttons" of gay and lesbian voters in California, hoping to convince them to oppose the cigarette tax.