Headlines and editorials decry large amounts of funding from sources outside of North Carolina for statewide campaigns, but the way this ugly phenomenon has reared its head is particularly sleazy in one race.
The American Future Fund, which National Public Radio identifies as a political fundraising and action arm of the Republican-affiliated Koch brothers, has spent a quarter of a million dollars to run advertisements in support of Libertarian Senate candidate Sean Haugh. North Carolina’s voters would be wise to ignore these ads and their promises of “more weed, less war” and see them as what they are: a ploy to distract young voters from the other two candidates.
The Koch brothers, who were recently called out by Senate candidate Kay Hagan for their spending on attack ads, are detestable in their ruthless tactics to sway voters away from a candidate who supports public universities. The Kochs believe they can buy their way into influencing any race, eroding the value of our democratic system.
Today, a vote for Sean Haugh would essentially be wasted. In the contentious two-party system that dominates state and national races, third party candidates tend to take votes from more politically viable candidates.
Though third parties are not inherently bad or unconstructive, in this case, backing Haugh creates a situation in which a vote is wasted on a candidate with no real chance of winning.
This election day, cast your ballot while being conscious of the malicious forces taking advantage of the two-party system.
