(4 of 5)
For the most part negotiators on both sides remained markedly civil, with particular cool shown by tobacco folks like Meyer Koplow from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. James Tierney, a former attorney general of Maine who advised the attorneys general on tactics, conceded that voices were "more apt to be raised in our caucuses than in the negotiations."
The antismoking forces had to triangulate three distinct constituencies: the attorneys general; personal-injury lawyers who had tobacco cases pending; and public-health advocates such as Matthew Myers, executive vice president of the National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids. Myers represented a public-health constituency badly split over issues such as regulation and immunity, but he managed to line most of the factions up behind the agreement. He got some help from ex-FDA director David Kessler and former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, co-chairmen of a commission charged with formulating a national policy toward tobacco.
The historic settlement, of course, could become history if President Clinton fails to provide the sort of enthusiastic endorsement that will pressure Congress to begin serious review of the deal. Though Clinton helped set the talks in motion, in part by proposing to let the FDA regulate cigarettes as delivery devices for the drug nicotine, over the months he has maintained a studied distance, working quietly through his adviser Bruce Lindsey to keep the negotiations on track. Even last week, when some attorneys general were threatening to leave town and negotiators were practically begging for a thumbs-up signal from the Oval Office, Clinton told the Wall Street Journal that the White House wasn't going to solve the final pieces of the puzzle.
According to Clinton press secretary Michael McCurry, the White House's course of calculated impassivity was chosen for three reasons: the White House thought the tobacco industry would give more if it wasn't rewarded too early; if negotiations collapsed, the Administration didn't want to have said anything that might jeopardize the FDA's proposed oversight of tobacco products or the strength of its case in beating back court challenges; and officials didn't want to endorse a plan they hadn't yet vetted. Again last Friday, Clinton played it coy, saying, "Now what we have to do is to subject the proposed agreement to strict scrutiny." His domestic-policy adviser Bruce Reed and Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services, will handle that chore.
Even a Clinton endorsement, however, does not ensure congressional passage of the legislation required to make the proposed settlement law. Last week Senate majority leader Trent Lott of Mississippi predicted that his chamber could not even begin to consider the deal until late fall, giving any of the Hill's 535 legislators ample time to pick apart the agreement. "What is our biggest fear? Congress," says Harshbarger. "Our fear is that all of this hard work could go down the drain."