Republican Jim Patterson introduced "ag-gag" Assembly Bill 343 to the California Assembly—if passed, the bill would have likely shut down undercover investigations on factory farms. As it turned out, the bill was what got shut down. There was so much opposition to Assembly Bill 343 that Patterson yanked it out of consideration himself after admitting to the Los Angeles Times that he does care about animal treatment. He is now free to consider measures that protect animals from abuse rather than hide it.

Not surprisingly, the bill was sponsored by the California Cattlemen's Association. But the public outcry against the bill was deafening. Legislators were flooded with e-mails from advocates for animals and free speech, and Republican legislators also got hit with a personal appeal that GOP strategist Mary Matalin filmed for PETA and sent to each legislator herself:

Animal advocates are also making great strides in Indiana, where a proposed "ag-gag" bill has had most of the wind sucked out of its sails. After legislators there also heard from Mary Matalin and throngs of disapproving voters, House Speaker Brian Bosma deemed the bill unconstitutional and legislators promptly gutted it, removing penalties for filming or taking photos on farms. Now we need your help to bring about a similar victory in Tennessee, where legislators passed a proposed "ag-gag" bill, which is now heading to Gov. Bill Haslam's desk for his signature. Tennessee Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris and singer Carrie Underwood have both harshly criticized the unconstitutional measure, and they need everyone's help to stop this bill before it becomes law and makes taking pictures or filming on factory farms illegal. No matter what state you live in, please e-mail Haslam and urge him not to sign Senate Bill 1248. You can also send polite tweets to @BillHaslam. 

Update: Well, that was fast! Shortly after Mary Matalin sent a personal appeal on PETA's behalf urging lawmakers to shelve bills intended to prevent undercover investigations of factory farms, legislators in Arkansas have scrapped their proposed "ag-gag" measures.

Now, let's keep the momentum going—if you live in California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Vermont, please tell your state legislators to drop "ag-gag" bills and protect animals, consumers, and free speech.

The following was originally posted on March 28, 2013:

Republican strategist Mary Matalin and her husband, Democratic consultant James Carville, differ on most political issues—but when it comes to legislative attempts to block undercover investigators from PETA and other organizations from revealing how animals suffer on factory farms, the couple stands united in opposition to "ag-gag" bills.

To that end, Matalin filmed a PETA appeal and sent it to Republican legislators—the primary sponsors of these measures—in Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Vermont, highlighting the importance of PETA's undercover work in prosecuting abusers and stopping institutionalized cruelty. After she introduces a video clip about a case that revealed routine beatings and even the sexual abuse of pigs on a Midwestern factory farm and which led to criminal convictions, Matalin states, "A meat-trade magazine called the case a 'wake-up call' for the industry. Unfortunately, factory farms keep hitting the snooze button, and instead of fixing the problems, they're trying to blame the messenger."

What You Can Do

Thanks to the support of concerned citizens, "ag-gag" bills have already been killed in several states, but we can't rest until all lawmakers stop trying to shield lawbreakers. Please join PETA, Mary Matalin, James Carville, Bob Barker, Cloris Leachman, Katherine Heigl, and many other figures from both sides of the aisle in urging legislators to protect consumers' right to know the truth about factory farms. If you live in Arkansas, California, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, or Vermont, please take action. 

shelbygop/cc by 2.0

As conservative Iowa lawmakers make an end-of-session push for the bill that would criminalize undercover investigations of cruelty to farmed animals, national Republican political consultant Mary Matalin has entered the fray—on PETA's behalf! Yesterday, she sent a personal appeal to Republican leaders in the state.

In her open letter to legislators, which has made news across the state, Matalin  says:

If House File 589 passes, PETA would not be able to conduct investigations in Iowa like that of a Hormel Foods supplier that led to the Greene County Sheriff filing 22 livestock neglect and abuse charges. You can e-mail Iowa Governor Terry Branstad asking that he veto House File 589 if it makes it to his desk.
 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Just a few more little tidbits for you from the recent party that the influential political odd couple Mary Matalin and James Carville hosted for the launch of PETA VP Dan Mathews' new book.

Evidently, Mary—who is certainly no stranger to hosting big events—has never in her life received so many calls about what to wear to a party. I absolutely love the idea that all those Capitol Hill bigwigs were calling up anxiously the day before to find out where they could buy vegan shoes. Mary herself ended up going barefoot, just to be on the safe side, and as for James, well, James opted for hemp—announcing to the assembled partygoers, "I'm all hemped out like Woody Harrelson!"

Dan gave a speech about the history of animal welfare legislation in this country, which has been consistently bipartisan, with strong advances for animals coming from staunch conservatives just as often as card-carrying liberals, and to drive home the point, Mary observed that it was incredibly rare that she and James could host a party together—normally when she throws a bash for her republican pals, James hightails it out of there to take the kids to a movie, and vice versa (I bet those kids get to see a lot of movies).

Mary also pointed out something else that she and Dan Mathews have in common—they've both had the experience of having bologna thrown at them in Iowa. For the full context of that joke, you should check out Dan's book. If it can reconcile a crowd of hardcore democrats and republicans in Washington, you can bet it's well worth the cover price.

Click here for the full text of Dan’s speech.

James Carville and Mary Matalin

My roommate is big into political documentaries at the moment, and this weekend he rented a '93 documentary about Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, called "War Room", which I found myself mesmerized by. Two things really struck me about the film: The first were the similarities between the unorthodox way that campaign was run and the way things work here at PETA—the "no bad ideas" brainstorming sessions, the behind-the-scenes maneuvering for positive media coverage, and the quirky stunts to draw attention to an important issue (Clinton supporters even had a guy in a chicken suit sneak into the republican convention with a sign reading "Poultry Workers for Bush" on one side to fool security and "Chicken Bush Won't Debate" on the other for the TV cameras).

Dan Mathews

The second thing that really stood out about the movie was the sheer force of personality of James Carville, who brilliantly engineered Clinton's landslide victory over George Bush Part 1 in '92. There's a PETA connection here, too, since James and his wife Mary Matalin—a force to be reckoned with on the other side of the aisle—who met PETA VP Dan Mathews at a recent event in Las Vegas, are going to be hosting a party for Dan's new book, Committed, at their home in Virginia this Thursday. When asked what inspired them to help promote the book, Mary Matalin answered, "Good man, good book, good cause. Let's party!" Couldn't have said it better myself.

You can read more about the story here.