Until recently, fiscal conservatism meant spending money
responsibly. But thanks to the latest wave of high-level Republican candidates
for governor and lieutenant governor of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli and E.W.
Jackson respectively, fiscal conservatism has come to mean conserving how much
in campaign donations is released for public review. Oh, and I also forgot to
mention Virginia’s biggest Republican Party star of nondisclosure, Bob
McDonnell.
But its E.W. Jackson
who took a little bit of McDonnell’s infamous limelight this week when it was
revealed that the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor failed for the
second time since May to properly disclose political donations which have been
made to his political campaign. Proper disclosure of political contributions is
not voluntary, it’s set by Virginia law.
According to the Richmond
Times Dispatch, at the peak of Jackson’s list of political donations
submitted before 5 PM on Monday, 7/15, is a contribution of $48,155 attributed
to Jackson’s own political action committee (PAC), Jackson for Lt. Governor. As
the Times points out, the nature and amount of
the contribution suggests that the donation is made up of smaller contributions
of undisclosed donors.
So what’s the problem, you may be asking? According to the Virginia Public Access Project’s (VPAP) executive
director, this could be the first time since the VPAP started tracking
political contributions in 1997 that a committee did not itemize the donors who
contributed to the candidates own PAC. Yes, Jackson has made quite a name for
himself as something
of an outlier.
As in the case of Ken Cuccinelli and Bob McDonnell, if
Jackson cannot properly disclose his political contributions to the people of
Virginia, what else would be try to disallow the people of Virginia to see? It may
seem like something of a silly question, but it strikes at the heart of the
people’s ability to trust the officials they elect to public office, especially
the governor and lieutenant governor.
Had this been Jackson’s first disclosure mishap, maybe we
could let it pass (“maybe” being the key word), but it isn’t. Furthermore,
Jackson’s bundled disclosure is so odious to Virginian virtues of transparency
that it’s difficult for anyone to argue that Jackson “made a mistake.”
The only mistake was electing Jackson to be the Republican Party
candidate for lieutenant governor. But the minister has become a godsend for
the Democratic Party of Virginia.
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