http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/91284/rubio-relying-secret-donors-finance-ad-blitz?mref=landing-list-bottom
According to the article, Marco Rubio is now the first presidential candidate to benefit from a social welfare group. About a month ago, Conservative Solutions Project announced a new advertisement worth almost 6 million dollars featuring Marco Rubio advocating to continue America's greatness. Because social welfare groups are able to hide their donors, no one knows who these specific supporters of Rubio are. This situation leads to great controversy because critics argue that people should be able to know who contributed to a campaign and who receives the money. In fact most Republicans support full disclosure as stated in the article. The issue in the end is that because the donors are hidden, no one knows if one person is paying for everything and also Americans are not informed where the money comes from. I personally do not think disclosure is necessary. I think that the candidates should be able to get money from anywhere even if it is not disclosed as long as they don't use illegal methods. As long as money is not squandered, then this issue should not be very prevalent. At the end of the day, money will only go so far in electing a candidate. It can't buy popularity, social composure and the ideals and stances on issues that are the difference makers in generating votes.
I would have to disagree with you Ethan. I wholeheartedly believe that we, as American Citizens, should have a full right to know who, and from where, candidates are receiving money from. Disclosure should be completely necessary in order for voters to know completely about the candidate that they are supporting. However, I agree that money will go only as far as who the candidate is. Many times in history, the candidate with the most financial support is often times the loser; moreover, it is the policies of a candidate rather than finance that will get him/her elected.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dilpreet - I think we should have the right to know where the candidates are getting their money, and it just looks bad to have something hidden from the public, especially when it comes to finance. It is within a candidate's best interest to have as transparent a campaign as possible so that the American people know to trust the candidate. Although money may not be the driving factor in an election, it is definitely an important factor - all the more reason to be as clear and honest as possible with it.
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