RE: Difficulty of interpretting disclosure data

[Rod Cameron <rodcm@aol.com>]

I agree also.  Choice 3 seems to be talked about as though individual voters will actually look at the disclosure data.  We have to remember we're having trouble just getting them to read the newspaper carefully enough to understand issues.  In a local race last fall, a candidate ran ads which showed a copy of an entry on a disclosure form-- then went on to "interpret" that data for readers by attacking the contributor mentioned.  So it seems, too, that choice 3 is an invitation to porportionately increase negative campaigning, thickening the fog voters already experience regarding the character of candidates and the issues they address.