Politics

Briana Bilbray Ad About Cancer Research Raises Contradictions

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published November 1, 2012 at 12:46 PM PDT

This story was published more than 12 years ago.

Briana Bilbray Ad

An ad featuring Congressman Brian Bilbray’s daughter has introduced a very personal note to the tight race between Bilbray and Scott Peters for the 52nd congressional seat. But the ad reveals contradictions in Bilbray’s position on health care.

In the ad, Bilbray’s 25-year-old daughter reveals a deeply personal tragedy that the congressman has openly acknowledged is changing his life.

"I’m Briana Bilbray and I have terminal cancer," Brianna says in the ad. "My dad’s work may not save my life but it could save thousands of others."

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Earlier this year, Bilbray set up a skin cancer research fund. However, the money for that fund would come from a 10 percent tax on tanning salons.

That tanning salon tax is an element of the Affordable Health Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, which Bilbray has pledged - along with his party - to repeal.

Carl Luna, a political science professor at Mesa College, said the inconsistencies in Bilbray’s political position get lost in the drama of the ad.

"What you’re seeing more is the rise of political campaigning as a docudrama," Luna said. "You don’t want the facts to get in the way of a convincing ad narrative."

Bilbray’s campaign said Bilbray has not identified any alternative money for the cancer research fund if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.

Corrected: November 26, 2024 at 8:00 PM PST

Since the story was written, Bilbray's office said that his legislation creating the cancer research fund seeks to separate the tanning salon tax from the Affordable Health Care Act.

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.