That's not the fault of the laws. Their intent is clear enough. But some political operatives have become adept at playing games that hide accountability.
The answer, then, is to strengthen the laws, or enforcement, or both.
The last election was marred by a last-minute sliming of selected Republican candidates in Salt Lake County. A political action committee called Truth in Politics used election-eve mailers titled “Salt Lake County Hall of Shame” and “Map of Corruption” to paint the candidates with a broad brush of scandal.
Some of the charges repeated well-known facts from scandals in county government, but other allegations were so vague that they amounted to little more than innuendo.
The PAC's disclosure statement with the Utah Elections Office listed a single person as the sole officer and donor. But the Las Vegas address in the initial filing turned out to be a UPS store, and a Park City phone number listed on the form disconnected after a few rings.
An address in a subsequent filing is that of a political consultant in Washington, D.C.
Utah Democratic Party Chairman Donald Dunn has been tied to the PAC in that he sold it a mailing list and used to work with the D.C. politico, Debbie Willhite. Even if there were a direct tie between the Utah Democrats and Truth in Politics, that would not be illegal.
But it is fair for voters to wonder if Dunn or the Democratic Party chose to work through Truth in Politics so that it could make brazen charges against Republicans while the Democratic Party kept its skirts clean.
Dunn's own 603 PAC contributed funds to another PAC, Concerned Utahns for a Healthy Future, that attacked the environmental record of Huntsman Chemical Corp. in the final weeks of the campaign. Jon Huntsman Jr., the successful Republican candidate for governor, was chairman of the family holding company that includes Huntsman Chemical.
Al Mansell, the outgoing Republican president of the Utah Senate, has asked Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to investigate Truth in Politics to see if it violated state law and to recommend ways to strengthen the disclosure requirements.
Shurtleff should not have to look far for ideas. The Campaign Disclosure Project, which rates state laws, gave Utah an F in its report in October. Utah was one of 17 states that failed, based on the project's study of its campaign finance disclosure law, electronic filing program, public accessibility of disclosure content and online usability. The California-based Center for Governmental Studies, one of the sponsors of the Campaign Disclosure Project, also has prepared a model disclosure law.
