Attack Ad to Beat All Attack Ads

[Commentary] The Wesleyan Media Project conducts quantitative and qualitative research to understand more fully the role of spending in races across the country.

At its new website, AttackAds.Org, the group of faculty and student researchers puts it this way: "...a growing body of evidence suggests that ads work better if they are sponsored by unknown groups, which further encourages the growth of dark money. Not only is there no transparency that could help voters better filter the barrage of messages, but there is less accountability in elections. You cannot punish a group in the same way that you can a candidate or a party by not voting for them. This is a problem for democracy. It doesn't have to be this way, however. This site is intended to help educate Americans on the problems of dark money, who the dark money organizations are, and what you can do about it."

[Roth is the President of Wesleyan University]