Open Secrets

As someone who used to do political fundraising, I am somewhat skeptical about the effectiveness of campaign finance regulations. If someone had maxed out giving to our clients (like Hillary raising money for her 'Senate' race), we just found other ways for them to direct their money.

However, one part about McCain-Feingold that I do like, more for personal rather than policy reasons, is the contribution disclosure requirement. It is somewhat stalkerish, but during my downtime from fundraising, I would use Open Secrets to see which candidates people I knew or professors I had contributed to. When you're a poli sci student, you're always curious about your prof's political leanings.

I had completely forgotten about this website until we were reading a campaign finance case in First Amendment. My professor had mentioned that he gave a $1,000 to a Presidential candidate but would not tell us who. However, with the power of the internet we were quickly able to discover that he did donate to Hillary, which was not a huge surprise since he did work in the Clinton Administration.

My friend and I looked up some other professors at our law school and discovered that our school is split right down the middle in between Hillary and Obama. I will also admit that I looked up some of the firms I am applying to. (I am not at all adverse to working with Republicans, but since some of the firms engage in lobbying and government relations, affiliations do matter more).

I could see how some people, like professors, might be uncomfortable with their political affiliation being exposed. However, I do think it is interesting to see where candidates are getting their money.