Via Matt, I see that Verizon’s policy chief is Tom Tauke, an anti-choice congressman from Iowa in the ’80s who lost a Senate bid to Tom Harkin in 1990. From a National Review article about the campaign:

…Tauke wants a constitutional amendment recognizing “the personhood of the unborn.” “When NARAL comes into the state,” Tauke says, “I’m not going to sit back and take it.”

NARAL apparently spent $100,000 to defeat Tauke. So is it really a coincidence that this man is policy chief of the only wireless company that (initially) refused to cooperate with NARAL?

(And this is a little off topic, but upon reading Tom Tauke’s name, my first thought was, “The Indian feather guy?” As the National Review article mentions, his campaign used to hand out feathers on headbands (like this) at events. I remember seeing this at a parade when I was a kid in Iowa. Who knows? I may have even worn one. How retro and messed-up is that?)

–Ann Friedman

Ann Friedman is a columnist for New York magazine’s website and for the Columbia Journalism Review. She also makes pie charts for The Hairpin and Los Angeles magazine. Her work has appeared in ELLE, Esquire, Newsweek, The Observer, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and many other outlets. She lives in Los Angeles, but travels so often the best place to find her is online at annfriedman.com. Follow @annfriedman