Convention to Refuse Tobacco Firms’ Donations

The host committee for the Democratic National Convention formally agreed Wednesday to decline contributions from tobacco companies.

The policy has been informally followed since the committee began soliciting support for the $35.3-million convention that begins Aug. 14. Now, with its fund-raising goal well in sight, convention organizers are touting the policy as an example of social responsibility.

“This is unprecedented,” said Noelia Rodriguez, chief executive officer of LA Convention 2000. “It’s very tempting to go after every last dollar you can get, but we believe it’s more important to send a message.”

The message, she said, is that Los Angeles cares about the well-being of its residents, especially young people. “You can be successful without having to be in partnership with companies that some say are harmful,” Rodriguez said.

On Wednesday, she called a news conference to sign an agreement titled “A Public Promise From LA Convention 2000.” It states that the host committee will not solicit or accept financial contributions, sponsorships or gifts from any tobacco company or subsidiary.

The committee also is declining contributions from gun manufacturers and gun lobbyists, although that was not mentioned at Wednesday’s news conference.

The policy highlights a key difference between the Democratic convention and the Republican convention, which will be held two weeks earlier in Philadelphia. The host committee for the Republican National Convention has no ban on tobacco contributions and accepted a $250,000 contribution from Philip Morris Cos., the nation’s largest tobacco company.

Such donations have raised eyebrows among finance reform advocates--and health care professionals--who view large contributions as a way to influence politics and policy.

More than 11,000 Los Angeles County residents are expected to die this year from tobacco-related illnesses, said Frederick James, a physician and president of the American Heart Assn.’s Western States affiliate. He said contributions by the tobacco industry to such events as the convention are an attempt to clean up its image.

The convention’s policy was praised by health care advocates who gathered at the mid-city offices of the American Lung Assn. to witness Rodriguez’s signing. Some observers said the policy is little more than politics.

“They’re trying to show there is a difference between the two parties,” said Robert M. Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, a Los Angeles-based research organization. The policy appeals to Democrats who are likely to be anti-gun and anti-tobacco, he said. And given Vice President Al Gore’s swearing off of tobacco money, Stern said, the committee probably was “not going to get very much money anyway.”

Rodriguez said the committee declined a contribution from Kraft Foods, a subsidiary of Philip Morris Cos.