Here’s a question: is it illegal for Kamala Harris to buy endorsements from top celebrities? Verify This says it’s not illegal. However, aren’t the ethics of it a bit sketchy? Many voters don’t know the candidate bought endorsements. It comes out after the election in the financial disclosures.
If you have enough money, you can pile up endorsements from all the most popular people in the country.
It doesn’t seem like a good ethic for America.
According to VerifyThis, there’s no law against paying people to endorse a political campaign, but candidates must disclose the payment publicly.
A spokesperson told VERIFY, “No provisions in the FEC rules specifically address paid endorsements of federal candidates.”
Campaigns for state or local office are governed by the laws in those jurisdictions, not the FEC, and so may have different requirements depending on where they are.
Federal candidates must legally disclose all payments, including those made in exchange for endorsements. The Federal Election Campaign Act requires campaigns for federal office to file regular reports on where their money comes from and where it goes.
That report has to include the name and address of any “person to whom an expenditure… more than $200… is made… together with the date, amount, and purpose of such… expenditure.”
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Kamala Harris has one of the dumbest, hard-to-look-at, expressions of any politician since Joe Biden.
Obviously its legal because you won’t see Harris getting into any trouble for doing it. How can the average citizen run for office when he would be outspent by deep pocket competition?
If they acknowledge it, let them waist the money. From the looks of it it wasn’t worth it.
I, personally, don’t care if endorsement are paid for. During the last election, Kamala spend billions of dollars and the endorsements backfired. The needle moved very little and actually, in some casss, hurt the candidate. This reminds me of the old saying, “He/she/other” has the best friends money can buy.”
Technically they are not buying votes, they are buying influence. If a candidate went to your house and gave you a $100 to vote for them and you did, that would be buying your vote or bribery. Campaign promises are more like gambling, a vote for the possibility of a promise.
Convincing or paying someone to support you is not illegal but it does favor the candidate with the most cash. That alone doesn’t guarantee a win, example: Kamala. That’s the risk. Because at the end of day it’s the not the supporter you are voting for. So if you are dumb enough to vote for someone based on a paid endorsement you probably were going to vote for the wrong person anyway.