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# 202 Monday, July 31, 2006 - "FAMILY VALUES" AND STEM CELL RESEARCH Have you seen the black and white TV footage of a little girl picking daisies-and then the A-bomb explodes? One of the most brilliant political advertisements ever done, the "daisy girl" ad probably cost Barry Goldwater the 1964 Presidential election. The shock and horror of a child-any child, our child-extinguished in a nuclear blast was juxtaposed with the famous Goldwater quote: ".extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." Goldwater's extremism in words was now linked to something visual: an A-bomb blast. Another classic political ad, used, was just two words: "Had enough?" This brilliant brevity, used by Republicans against Democrats, apparently brought together every grudge and grievance of the Franklin D. Roosevelt 4-term era, reminding them. We in the stem cell research support community need to learn from both. Did you watch President Bush's veto message of HR 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act? It was a brilliant example of defending the indefensible. He could not, of course, say the simple truth: "Hi, folks, I have decided to let the Religious Right dictate medical policy for the nation, denying possible cure to suffering millions." Instead, he pretended to be protecting children. Read Eleanor Clift's Newsweek article, "400,000 Frozen Embryos: But only 128 "snowflakes" have been adopted. Will the stem-cell veto hurt the GOP?", July 21, 2006 It pointed out that Bush allowed no press at all during the signing of his veto of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, the first bill he ever vetoed-but then invited every TV and print reporter to his stage-managed photo-op, complete with hand-picked audience. "These are not spare parts," he said, to thunderous cheers from the pre-selected supporters. The fact that no one on earth claimed otherwise was not mentioned. Surrounded by "snowflake" babies, children born by In Vitro Fertility (IVF) procedures, he "explained" why research he had supported before had suddenly become evil. Holding up one infant after another, he framed his refusal to help suffering people in terms of" family values": Family values. What if one of those children turns out to have an incurable disease? Tough luck, kid, appears to be the President's viewpoint: we have to protect those blastocysts; they might be invisible dots, about to be flushed down a toilet, but they're still more important than you or your family. The "snowflake" photo-op was like the movie, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, in which the tobacco salesman smilingly manipulates the public, telling a little boy dying of cancer that his Mommy really isn't an expert on second-hand smoke. There is no sense getting mad about the lies implied; what matters is making our own message as vividly clear as the nonsense the President peddles. First, in media opportunities, we need to get to the point immediately. Do not begin by repeating what the opposition just said. It may seem a way to set up rebuttal, but what is really happening is a repeat of the enemy's best lines! In a long article, however, there may time to take the opposition's best shots and attack them. I would have loved to hear one of our spokespeople say something like: "If the President had his way, none of those beautiful babies would have been born. Leon Kass, appointed by Mr. Bush to lead the Presidential Bioethics Commission, is an enemy of all IVF procedures, and has opposed this method for many years." But on TV, in a press conference, there is seldom enough time. Dispose of the opposition's nonsense as quickly as possible, (or ignore it altogether) and get to our points-clear, brief, easy to remember-short! Most importantly, be visual. Another article (whose name and author I have forgotten-help please? I like to give credit when possible) pointed out that the main press conference in response to HR 810's veto, was three champions of research, all elderly white male Senators, dedicated, good folks, with wisdom to share-but visually, the room full of babies was more powerful. Consider an earlier moment. Remember when Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) spoke on behalf of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, sharing the stage with a little girl named Emma? Emma was about six years old, and just utterly adorable. She has type one diabetes. When Senator Feinstein spoke, (and she did well of course) it almost didn't matter what she said, because visually, the message was so clear: unmistakable. When the Senator spoke about stem cell research, she was defending that child with everything she had: like a mom cradling a baby in one arm, and a shotgun in the other. Emotionally, the message I felt from the Senator was: "If you want to hurt Emma, you're going to have to come through me." In that moment, Dianne Feinstein and Emma Arvedon summed up who we are. We are one family, together, fighting to protect our loved ones. Every ad, every public appearance, every thing we say or do for the cause: needs to making clear who we are; people fighting to protect our loved ones. Emma is not a statistic. She is the daughter of Richard Arvedon, long-term fighter for stem cell research. She is a part of our family, yours and mine. On a bulletin board a few feet from me is a picture of a baby in a wheelchair, someone I have never met. His name is Pranav, two and a half years old, paralyzed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. He too is a part of our family, yours and mine, related to us by the cause of cure. And a couple miles from here, my own son Roman lies asleep. He dreams, perhaps, of running. Rome faced the television cameras recently, outside the State Capitol in Sacramento. It was the day Governor Schwarzenegger announced his magnificent gift to California: authorizing $150 million in loans to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. I was scheduled to speak, was all miked-up, ready with statistics and examples- "embryonic stem cells are like cash money, which is accepted everywhere, adult stem cells are like gift certificates, accepted only at certain stores"- And then my golden son came around the corner. The interviewer took one look at Roman, glanced at the cameraman, who nodded. "Umm-" said the interviewer to me. "Of course," I said, reaching up under my shirt to free the microphone. I may have sighed internally-vanity dies slowly, and I do love to speak-but it was the right choice. When I speak, I always talk about my son, and the wheelchair he temporarily occupies. Better to have Roman himself, well-spoke, never complaining, but so clearly intending to one day fulfill Christopher Reeve's great prediction, to "stand up from our wheelchairs, and walk away from them forever." The President's scriptwriters may give him good lines to say, cheap talk about "family values". But Roman, Pranav, Emma, and the millions like them-these are real family, to be genuinely valued-and fought for. They are the battle, and we will not forget them in the next twelve weeks. We will Remember in November. By Don Reed www.stemcellbattles.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn