As elections near, you will find more of those slick flyers bombarding your mailbox. The ones with “Paid for by a candidate” are legitimate. It is the ones with the less than flattering pictures of the candidate being attacked and misleading headlines that are being financed by elusive, mysterious dark money organizations.
Dark Money, as defined by Wikipedia, “refers to spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public”. Donors such as corporations, unions and individuals can give unlimited amounts without being traced. That gives them greater liberty to sway an election in their favor.
Why do these organizations fling dark money dirt? First of all, because it works. They generate questions and doubts in the minds of voters. If a verifiable source is not cited, then likely the accusations are nothing but lies and deceit meant to slander a candidate’s character. Secondly, by tearing down one candidate, the mudslingers promote the other one.
Closely related in purpose to the ugly mailers are the “Push Poll” telephone calls. The kind that starts out with generic questions and then hones into one candidate with questions like, “If you knew this juicy bit of perverted, twisted gossip about Candidate X, would you be more or less likely to vote for them?” The goal is for you to be pushed to vote against Candidate X and for the other one. And who pays for “push polls”? Dark money? The opponent? It’s hardly an “independent” survey. It’s a mystery!
More often than not, the one at the receiving end of the attacks is the true conservative candidate whom the dark money groups are trying to get out of the way. That’s the one who will vote for the constituents’ values rather than be unduly influenced by lobbyists and special interests.
It’s time to clean up politics. Don’t let the dark money mudslingers influence your vote! Don’t be manipulated by Dark Money!