HD 46: Bogus Complaint?
The ethics complaint against HD 46 challenger Brian Thompson accuses his campaign of failing to disclose its commercials are "political advertisements" and who paid for them. But here's a screen grab of the last shot of the ads:
In his email, the complainant, Dukes supporter Nelson Linder, says he filed the complaint to "bring more scrutiny to tactics being employed [by the Thompson campaign] and not reported" by the press. Not sure what kind of tactics are being alluded to here, it seems clear that the commercials specify they are political advertisements and who paid for them.
Comments
This complaint appears meritless. A donor paid the station directly on the Thompson campaign's behalf, making the ads an in-kind contribution to Thompson's campaign. Thus, the ad's disclaimer correctly states it is paid by the Thompson campaign.
There is no harm, regardless. Thompson's ad discloses it is on his behalf and his campaign reports indicate they were paid by a specific donor. Full disclosure. What is the harm?
Posted by: Fred Lewis | February 25, 2008 1:06 PM