Opinion Piece Questions Effect of Special Election on Pharmaceutical Firms

Arnold Steinberg, a California political strategist and analyst, in a San Diego Union-Tribune opinion piece questioned whether the Nov. 8 initiative battle between Propositions 78 and 79 was "a charade" designed to confuse voters into rejecting all of Schwarzenegger's initiatives and "take the drug companies for a ride."

While pharmaceutical companies "accomplished their main goal" of defeating Proposition 79, "[t]hey could have achieved these election results for half the cost, and without the sleaze," Steinberg writes. He writes that drug companies' advertising "overkill" and an "overwhelmingly repetitive" campaign were "wasteful" and the "first step to do them in."

According to Steinberg, the drug industry "could have won the battle ... without compromising their respectability" (Steinberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11/24).