Survey Says: Put Contributors On Air

The majority of respondents to a Center for Competitive Politics poll on possible new political contribution disclosure rules (68%) said they favored making the heads and largest donors appear in campaign ads to take responsibility for them.

That requirement was part of the DISCLOSE Act, a bill that would have boosted disclosure requirements on TV and radio ads, among other things. It passed in the House but failed in the Senate. Other poll findings, which were a mixed bag on how much disclosure there should be and who should be doing it, included that 44% said unions and nonprofits that get grants and loans should be prohibited from running political ads and that 62% either strongly or somewhat disagree that citizen's contributions to advocacy groups running political ads should have their name and address posted online. "Americans' views on disclosure are much more complex than 'reform' groups like to claim," said Center Chairman Bradley Smith.