• Washington Post , Thursday, January 8, 2009 10:50 AM

The pharmaceutical industry plans to spend tens of millions of dollars on an advertising campaign promoting Obama-style health coverage for every American, Ceci Connolly reports. Its first spot breaks today.

"We had better self-police and stop doing the things that cause so much criticism, or we're going to get legislated and regulated by government," says W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, the Republican former congressman who heads the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). The changes are an effort to move away from the industry's "slash-and-burn kind of policy" in response to previous regulatory and legislative efforts.

In 2008, for the first time in 18 years, industry contributions to Democrats were on par with money given to Republicans, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group. "PhRMA had been isolated into a one-party camp," Tauzin says. "We're trying to reposition as less of a partisan player."

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