"Voter Information Guide for Democrats"

About a week ago I received an election mailing entitled "Voter Information Guide for Democrats". It looked like this, with a bald eagle against an American flag and a photo of US Senator Dianne Feinstein. I don't usually read campaign junk mail very carefully, but I noticed that it seemed to oppose one or two ballot initiatives that many prominent Democrats supported. Then I threw it away.

This morning I received an e-mail from MoveOn.org saying that this "Voter Information Guide for Democrats" was phony. This very realistic-looking "voter information guide" endorsed primarily Democratic candidates and propositions, but it did urge voters to vote no on Propositions 86 (cigarette tax for health care), 87 (funding alternate energy), and 89 (campaign finance reform); these are all propositions that the California Democratic Party supports. By looking around on the Internet, I was able to find out that this mailing was sent out by a political consulting firm that received $75,000 from tobacco corporations and $300,000 from oil companies campaigning against Propositions 86 and 87, respectively. Dianne Feinstein has spoken out angrily about her image being used without her permission to endorse causes she does not support. (I have also received a real voter information guide from the state Democratic Party, urging me to vote yes on 86, 87, and 89.)

This isn't the first deceptive political ad, especially in California, but I was still shocked when I realized I had almost been tricked. You can read more about it from ABC News and the San Jose Mercury.