Who's buying this election?

Who's buying this election?

In Monday's USA Today (9/28/10), there was an editorial on campaign financing by the above title. I am not expecting you to go out and find the old newspaper, nor am I forwarding the entire editorial to you. I am mentioning it because the example used in the editorial is a Pennsylvania election and an ad you probably have seen. I am sure examples abound on both sides of the political fence.
The ad example used is an “ad attacking Senate candidate Joe Sestak for, among other things, gutting Medicare. The ad – which the non-partisan watchdog group FactCheck.org calls “badly misleading” - if funded not by Sestak's opponent but an independent group called Crossroads GPS.”
“The group running the Sestak ad, and several ads like it in other states, is affiliated with Karl Rove........it is structured as a 501(c)(4) organization.........it is not required to reveal its funding sources.”
It is estimated that at least $3.6 billion (yes, with a B) will be spent this year on congressional elections, almost $1 billion more than was spent in 2006!
The bottom line is, we don't know who is paying for the attack ads. And unless we dig a little we have no idea if what is stated is fact or fiction. Because it is on television, or worse, on the internet, does not make it true. Being an informed voter can be a challenge.