Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Friday that allowing individuals to donate as much as they like to a candidate would derail powerful super PACs and sharply cut negative campaign attacks.
“The best way to get control of the money is to make it possible for individuals to give unlimited after-tax money to the candidates,” the former House speaker said in response to a listener’s question at a
C-SPAN question and answer session.
Gingrich, who has blamed his drop in the polls on negative campaign attacks, said candidates should be directly responsible for the content of campaign ads.
“These candidates wouldn’t have signed ads that are as negative and dishonest as the super PACs have run,” Gingrich said. “They want all the dirty work done out there so they can stand there and smile while the super PAC is pouring down mud.”
If candidates had to accept responsibility for all the ads run by their powerful backers, Gingrich said, “you’d automatically bring down the level of negativity by probably 80 percent.”
Unlike regular political action committees, increasingly influential super PACs can accept unlimited donations and make unlimited campaign expenditures without revealing their contributors’ identities.
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