PR pro Gordon James recently returned from Iraq, where he was Director of Advance and Special Events in the Coalition Provisional Authority's Office of Strategic Communications. "We were highlighting Ambassador Bremer's work, trying to get a positive media spin," he told PR Week.

The Hill & Knowlton PR firm "is working to allay any voters' concerns in Florida's fourth largest county amid reports that votes were not counted by new electronic balloting machines in an August primary." The firm's $160,000 contract with Hillsborough County includes promoting e-voting machines and encouraging "voters to turn out and cast ballots." Hill & Knowlton is also helping Republican elections s

"California's initiative laws, initially passed to thwart corporate influence in politics, now facilitate just the opposite," writes Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser. Proposition 72, "an initiative that would require large and medium-sized business owners to give health benefits to their workers," is opposed by McDonald's, Burger King, Best Buy, Target and other fast food and big box companies.