"One large and important producer of genetically modified (GM) crops - Monsanto - has engineered public opinion to reduce critical scrutiny," writes a group of South African, Mexican and American academic researchers. Monsanto has followed "a tried-and-true set of PR tactics designed to tie GM crops to the question of hunger, to silence debate on the topic, and to challenge critics as technophobic. This PR strategy removes debate that is vital for public and environmental health." In portraying GM crops as a "solution" to hunger worldwide and promoting company defenders from developing countries, Monsanto has positioned itself "as a development partner, as a benevolent philanthropist who has technology to 'share.'" This PR strategy is "seductive," the researchers explain, in that it suggests easy answers to complex problems. It also "attempts to depoliticize; the public relations machinery, through active co-optation, becomes an 'anti-politics machine.'"

"Questions about the security and accuracy of electronic voting systems are likely to continue into the 2006 national elections, because the U.S. government has not yet completed work on electronic voting guidelines," according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report concluded, "Important changes to the voting standards have not yet been completed, the system certification and laboratory accreditation programs are still in development, and a system software library has not been updated or improved since the 2004 election." The Election Assistance Commission, a federal body established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, responded, "We have already made significant progress on GAO's recommendations."

While human rights groups denounce the Sudanese government's "condoning of the action of a violent militia which is raping and killing innocent women, men and children and pillaging villages in Darfur," a U.S. firm is lobbying for Sudan. Representative Frank Wolf said he was "shocked" that the State Department granted C/R International a waiver "from an order barring U.S. companies from doing business with Sudan." Rep. Wolf wrote Secretary of State Rice that the waiver "conflicted with the administration's push ... to tighten sanctions" on Sudan. Sudan hired C/R, at $530,000 per year, "to promote the country's north/south peace agreement, and highlight Sudan's role in fighting terror," reported O'Dwyer's PR Daily. C/R head Robert Cabelly is "a former Fleishman-Hillard and State Dept. official who has repped Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia and the South Africa Foundation." Rep. Wolf also criticized Patton Boggs for "trying to polish the image of Saudi Arabia" and Akin, Gump for "trying to assist China in buying a U.S. oil company."

"With indictments" in the Plame leak case possibly looming, "Republicans are preparing a public relations blitz aimed at shoring up public support for the Bush administration," writes the Boston Globe. "The outlines ... emerged on the Sunday talk shows," when guests like Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said perjury charges would be technicalities, "just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste." Other Republican angles, the Wall Street Journal reports, include "complaining about prosecutorial overreach" and questioning the credibility of retired diplomat Joseph Wilson. The Republican National Committee circulated a document titled, "Joe Wilson's Top Ten Worst Inaccuracies and Misstatements." A top Democratic talking point is that the case "is about how the Bush administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to bolster its case for war in Iraq." Democrats are also urging "a thorough housecleaning" and throwing "Mr. Bush's oft-repeated claims of integrity back at him."

Two new conservative campaigns are urging Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers to withdraw her name from consideration, or have President Bush withdraw it. WithdrawMiers.org is headed by direct-mail titan Richard Viguerie and supported by the American Conservative Union, National Review, Republican National Coalition For Life, Patrick Buchanan and Phyllis Schlafly, among others. A similar group, Americans for Better Justice, was created by David Frum and Linda Chavez to collect "signatures and money to campaign against Ms. Miers's confirmation." PR Week notes that the "discord among conservatives ... has resulted in lower spending in advertising and grassroots campaigns" in support of Miers. Progress for America "was the only group to purchase TV airtime in the first week after she was nominated." And the group spent less than 40 percent of what they spent "on TV ads in support of John Roberts in the first week following his nomination."