The most recent state to pass stringent smoking restrictions was the bright-red state of Georgia, signed by conservative Republican Governor Sonny Purdue after breezing on through the conservative (and I believe Republican) Georgia Legislature. Meanwhile, conservative cities like Lincoln, Nebraska; Fayetteville, Arkansas; and in the heart of tobacco country, Lexington, Kentucky, have all passed smoking bans in the last couple years. Republican Governors across the country, most recently in Minnesota, have jacked up tobacco taxes to fill budget holes.

Five years ago, the Republican Party was more likely to be on the right side of the smoking freedom issue. Those days are increasingly over, since the majority of voters in both parties have no interest in the rights and/or freedoms of smokers, and since we're not politically organized and thus wield virtually no lobbying power. The finally straw is likely to be passage of a Federal tobacco tax that could easily zip through the Republican House, the Republican Senate and the Republican President. Last year, the administration's Health and Human Services department gave the thumbs-up to a $2 per pack Federal tax on cigarettes.

Smokers are the political path of least resistance for both parties. Unless we figure out some way to organize and lobby like every other protected interest group, we'll continue to be walked all over no matter which political party is in charge.