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I wrote this for today's Beyond Chron, San Francisco's Alternative Online Daily.
Back in March, I reported that Michael Colbruno – State Senator Carole Migden’s former chief of staff – is now V.P. of Government Affairs for Clear Channel Outdoor, the massive billboard company. Whenever Colbruno wants to help his old boss, he makes sure that San Francisco gets plastered with campaign billboards for election season. Today, the local Municipal Transportation Authority (M.T.A.) will vote on whether to give Clear Channel an exclusive contract to advertise on all 1,100 Muni bus shelters throughout the City, just in time for Carole Migden’s tough re-election fight.
But Clear Channel isn’t waiting for the Muni contract to help her campaign. Last week, the company set up huge billboards throughout the district, proclaiming that Migden is “leading California’s campaign against the War.” Migden has always opposed the War in Iraq, but to say that she has led California’s campaign demeans members of Congress like Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters and Lynn Woolsey who represent California and have led the charge since Day One. Carole Migden may have authored a resolution in the State Senate last January to oppose George Bush’s escalation. But ironically, it was her opponent, Mark Leno, who sponsored the very first resolution in the nation against the Iraq War – in October 2002.
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