Not Ready for Prime Time: Heather Wilson's Senate Campaign Website Violates FEC Rules

Screen capture 3.9.11 (click image for larger version)

Have you seen Heather Wilson's new campaign website for her Republican primary run for U.S. Senate in New Mexico? Not only is it bland and unsophisticated, especially for a Senate race, but the site appears to be in violation of Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules. 

Look for the "Paid for By" notice. Hard to find, right? It took me a while to finally see it, in grayed-out lettering at the bottom of the page. This violates the following section of the FEC rules:

Clear and Conspicuous Placement of Disclaimer Notice
A disclaimer notice must be clearly and conspicuously displayed. A notice is not clearly and conspicuously displayed if the print is difficult to read or if the placement is easily overlooked. 110.11(c)(1)

Any public communication made by a political committee—including communications that do not expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified federal candidate or solicit a contribution—must display a disclaimer. As explained below, disclaimers must also appear on political committees’ Internet web sites and in certain e-mail communications. 110.11(a)(1).

Next check out the video of Wilson talking about her candidacy, which she on Monday. The poorly produced and sloppy video looks more like amateur hour or a video made for a campaign for high school student body president. Both the video and audio quality are poor.

All in all, the website is not exactly befitting a statewide campaign for an important office. Kind of reminds me of Heather Wilson herself! Either she was in an incredible hurry to announce her candidacy -- even though the contest isn't until 2012 -- or she has assembled a Mickey Mouse staff to handle her campaign. Come to think of it, I don't like her campaign logo either! How about you?