Proposition 204 ads don't tell what's at stake

Opponents of Proposition 204 have started running radio and TV commercials decrying the measure as "hogwash."

But the ads make absolutely no mention of what Proposition 204 is or would do. Instead they consist of simply a series of derogatory synonyms for hogwash, ranging from "bunk" and "baloney" to "trash" and "twaddle," ending the list with "Proposition 204."

Streets display similar signs.

The measure would make it illegal to confine a pig during pregnancy or any calf raised for veal for the majority of the day in any manner that precludes it from lying down, fully extending limbs or turning around freely. Farmers would have until 2013 to comply.

In Arizona, the only effect would be on pigs, as there is no veal industry. It would affect only a single company: PFFJ — which stands for Pigs for Farmer John — in Snowflake.

Requests by Capitol Media Services to visit the facility and see the pens that would be outlawed were rebuffed.

Campaign consultant Ian Calkins, whose firm crafted the advertising campaign, said allowing reporters into the plant would create safety issues, as they could bring in diseases. He rejected a reporter's offer to go through the same sanitizing procedures as plant workers.

But Calkins' firm, Copper State Consulting, did get company OK to send its own crew into the facility to videotape conditions there. He said the media will have to rely on that video.

The anti-204 efforts follow a statewide poll in March that showed 57 percent of those asked strongly support the initiative, with another 21 percent saying they are somewhat in support. Thirteen percent listed themselves as somewhat or strongly opposed.

Jim Klinker, chairman of the campaign and lobbyist for the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation, defended the "hogwash" campaign.

"The message has to be kept simple," he said, pointing out there are 19 separate measures on the ballot.