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OPB News
Measure Opponents Focus On Bill Sizemore
By Chris Lehman
SALEM, OR
2006-11-02
Now that Oregon voters have their ballots in hand, the people behind all of the campaigns are hoping their advertising messages pay off.
Voters have been subjected to a steady stream of ads about many high-profile ballot measures this year.
As correspondent Chris Lehman reports, some of those advertising blitzes have focused on the people behind the ballot measures, instead of the measures themselves.
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On the face of it, Measure 42 seems pretty straightforward. It would bar insurance companies from using a customer's credit history to set rates or premiums.
As you would expect, insurance companies oppose it. They've poured $4 million into a "No on 42" campaign. Opponents say the measure's wording is vague and could have far-reaching effects. But the focus of the criticism is not always the measure itself -- it's often the person behind it.
Television ad: "Who's behind Measure 42, banning the use of credit information in insurance? 42 is sponsored by Bill Sizemore, who owes millions in legal judgments... "
This television ad is by Oregonians Against Insurance Rate Increases. It targets Measure 42's sponsor Bill Sizemore, who over the years has authored dozens of ballot measures.
The group's spokesman, Pat McCormack, believes Oregon voters have a strong dislike of Sizemore. That's why the group is touting his involvement in their campaign ads.
Pat McCormack: "His style is an important element in the consideration of Measure 42, because unlike most folks who follow the prescription outlined in Oregon's Constitution for how legislation should be written, where it identifies the sections of current law that are to be amended or repealed, Mr. Sizemore prefers instead to write very simple one-paragraph kind of ballot measures, that inevitably have significant unintended consequences."
The people against Measure 42 aren't the only ones using Sizemore in their ads. Opponents of Measure 41 are also playing the Sizemore card.
Measure 41 would allow Oregonians to claim the same deduction for personal exemptions on their state and federal tax returns. Unlike Measure 42, Sizemore's name doesn't officially appear as a sponsor of Measure 41. But he's acknowledged his role in creating it.
So what does Sizemore have to say about being the subject of an ad blitz? Not much, except that he thinks it might backfire.
Bill Sizemore: "I have a lot of friends out there and I have a lot of people who like what I've done in the past, so I think it will cut both ways."
Pacific University political scientist Jim Moore says Sizemore could be right.
Jim Moore: "He's still seen as a hero to many people in Oregon. Remember, Oregon is split almost 50-50 between those who we would consider kind of progressive, pro-government types, and those who basically think government is too big and we have to have an anti-tax mood in order to make government behave. And Bill Sizemore appeals to that second half in a big way."
Sizemore's detractors often accuse him of engaging in so-called kitchen-table activism. But Moore says kitchen-table activism is what the ballot measure system is about.
Jim Moore: "It's supposed to be citizens coming together and saying, 'I have something to figure out and I want to take it to the people.' So, he's in the center of that tradition, going back over a hundred years."
And Sizemore plans to continue that tradition. He's applied to the Oregon Secretary of State's Office to place some two dozen measures on the ballot for the 2008 election.
© Copyright 2007, OPB
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