Going Get Nasty - Singling Out Donors

[volinbham]

Not sure how new this is but it's a sign of how low people are willing to go to win an election

Strassel: Trolling for Dirt on the President's List - WSJ.com

Here's what happens when the president of the United States publicly targets a private citizen for the crime of supporting his opponent.

Frank VanderSloot is the CEO of Melaleuca Inc. The 63-year-old has run that wellness-products company for 26 years out of tiny Idaho Falls, Idaho. Last August, Mr. VanderSloot gave $1 million to Restore Our Future, the Super PAC that supports Mitt Romney.

Three weeks ago, an Obama campaign website, "Keeping GOP Honest," took the extraordinary step of publicly naming and assailing eight private citizens backing Mr. Romney. Titled "Behind the curtain: a brief history of Romney's donors," the post accused the eight of being "wealthy individuals with less-than-reputable records." Mr. VanderSloot was one of the eight, smeared particularly as being "litigious, combative and a bitter foe of the gay rights movement."

About a week after that post, a man named Michael Wolf contacted the Bonneville County Courthouse in Idaho Falls in search of court records regarding Mr. VanderSloot. Specifically, Mr. Wolf wanted all the documents dealing with Mr. VanderSloot's divorces, as well as a case involving a dispute with a former Melaleuca employee.

 

[YorkVol]

The Gay Rights issue is going to distract everyone from the lousy economy.

 

[bamacheats]

Not sure how new this is but it's a sign of how low people are willing to go to win an election

Strassel: Trolling for Dirt on the President's List - WSJ.com

That company employs a lot of people here in Knoxville. I have a couple of relatives that work there. It's a pretty good job.

Vandersloot is Mormon.

 

[volinbham]

Seems pretty slimy to:

1) Single out donors and smear them
2) Dig up dirt on donors

We are really moving away from voting on issues to voting on ridiculous things (pranks in high school, who's coolest, etc.)

 

[Gramps]

I think this will be the nastiest campaign in history of the USA.

 

[dreVol]

could this be a voting rights or civil rights issue? voters are being intimidated for donating money and taking part in the election process. this is a bad road to go down.

 

[YorkVol]

You can already see who has donated to what political cause, records are posted on-line in (I think) every state, but targeting specific donors for slander is wrong and may have a different effect then they intend.

 

[Gramps]

You can already see who has donated to what political cause, records are posted on-line in (I think) every state, but targeting specific donors for slander is wrong and may have a different effect then they intend.

Do the pacs report who their donors are?

 

[YorkVol]

Do the pacs report who their donors are?

Many do. Here is a link to a list of donors in my town (York, Pa) and you'll see there are PACs on the list.

YORK, Pennsylvania (PA) Political Contributions by Individuals - Donations to Congress, local, or national races, Republican or Democrat and other candidates

 

[dduncan4163]

Seems pretty slimy to:
We are really moving away from voting on issues to voting on ridiculous things (pranks in high school, who's coolest, etc.)

Welcome to modern day politics.