Beware Republican Scam Donation Sites

By Taegan Goddard, The Week

04 February 14

f you donate to a candidate online, pay attention to the fine print to make sure your donation goes to the candidate you want and not his or her opponent.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has launched a series of websites that look like they support a Democratic candidate for Congress, but instead direct contributions to the Republican Party instead.

The Tampa Bay Times interviews one donor who thought he was giving to Alex Sink's (D) congressional campaign. It even used the same blue and green color scheme as the candidate's official website.

Said the donor: "It looked legitimate and had a smiling face of Sink and all the trappings of a legitimate site."

But he didn't see the small print, which said, "Make a contribution today to help defeat Alex Sink and candidates like her."

The NRCC defended the sites to NBC News, and said Democrats were upset because their candidates are struggling.

But the data tells a different story. Democrats are actually raising significantly more money than Republicans.

A Wall Street Journal review of the latest campaign filings finds that the top Democratic candidates in the 52 most competitive House races reported raising $42.3 million last year, easily beating the $34.8 million for the top Republican candidates in those races.

Resorting to trickery is never a good politics. But it speaks volumes to how a party views its chances ahead of the upcoming elections.