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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

"... Udall said. 'If speech equals money, then there’s a lot of Americans who aren’t being heard.'”

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Udall slams campaign donation ruling, ‘dark money’
By Nick Coltrain, April 19, 2014

In a recent swing through Northern Colorado for his re-election campaign, U.S. Sen. Mark Udall characterized changes to campaign donation laws as divorced from reality and said a recent influx of “dark money” is an outsider group’s attempt to buy votes.

Udall, a Democrat, will face off against U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, in November.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the cap that political donors can contribute to campaigns and political action committees in a two-year election cycle. In McCutcheon v. the Federal Election Commission, the court ruled the limits violated the First Amendment. It did not overturn the limit to how much a donor can give to a single candidate.

Udall called the decision “the latest chapter in the Citizens United saga.” In its ruling on the Citizens United case, the Supreme Court allowed corporations, associations and unions to spend money in support of or opposition to candidates. They were previously banned from direct advocacy.

“The idea that speech equals money, if you look at reality, it just doesn’t hold up,” Udall said. “If speech equals money, then there’s a lot of Americans who aren’t being heard.”

He also attacked so-called dark money, or donations where the source isn’t clear. Part of why he needs to return Washington as a senator is to fight for new rules against it, he said. He argued for instant disclosures in campaign ads, for example.

“When the public knows where the money is coming from, they at least have a fighting chance at understanding the motivations behind that money being thrown behind particular races,” he said.

Udall was the recent target in a $970,000 ad buy by Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group backed by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers.

It in part spurred his statewide outreach. Udall argued that his trek would earn votes instead of buy them.

“When it comes to the outside money, especially the Koch’s money, it is my point of view that that dark money will be seen for what it is, which is outside money trying to buy a race,” Udall said. “The Kochs are not two brothers, they’re an interest group.”
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