At a campaign stop this Election Day afternoon in the city of Torrance in Southern California's South Bay, GOP contender Steve Poizner targeted his opponent Meg Whitman's campaign spending. "Meg Whitman has spent close to $100 million in this campaign," he said, while maintaining that, despite trailing in the polls, he's going to win tonight.
I asked Poizner about all that money spent against him -- enough to put him at a disadvantage despite his own considerable spending (including more than $20 million of his own). Does he think the campaign finance system in California is broken? And if so, what would he do about it?
Poizner said he thought that campaign disclosure laws need to be strengthened so that voters could see all kinds of political spending, including money that goes through political parties and interest groups. "I would improve disclosure rules," he said.
Poizner wasn't particularly specific, but some of his aides were complaining that journalists had investigated all of Whitman's financial machinations more thoroughly. Poizner seemed to be referring to various campaign finance loopholes that allow candidates to send money through various party mechanisms, particularly at the county level, and give to interest groups as a way of buying support.
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