Astroturf

[Grant Barrett]

Senator Bentsen was fond of the new definition of astroturf and is
quoted many times in the various archives using before it seems to have
spread. An example a little earlier than Paul's first cite:

Aug. 7, 1985, Washington Post: "A fellow from Texas can tell the
difference between grass roots and Astro Turf," Sen. Lloyd Bentsen
(D-Tex.) said of his mountain of cards and letters from opponents of
the insurance provisions. "This is generated mail."

Grant

On Mar 28, 2004, at 17:11, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
> astroturf
> (AS.troh.turf) n. A fake grass-roots movement.
> —astroturfing pp.
> Earliest Citation:
> Issue-oriented newspaper advertisements featuring clip-out coupons are
> often
> designed to show that the sponsor's goal has grass-roots support. But
> the
> "grass roots is AstroTurf in many cases, artificial turf," says Sen.
> Lloyd
> Bentsen, D-Texas. A case in point, in his view, is the recent ad
> campaign by the
> Distilled Spirits Council of the United States against increases in
> excise taxes
> on liquor. Bentsen reports that a third of the 190 coupons his office
> received
> were altered to express support for tax increases that the coupon says
> could
> raise the price of a bottle of liquor $2 and "put a lot of people in
> the
> beverage alcohol business out of work."
> —"Playing on astroturf," The National Journal, April 19, 1986