This is not a surprise. But it's worth repeating, over and over.

The reason dark money persists in Washington is because dark money is PAYING to MAKE it persist in Washington.

These web ads from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) put dollars to certain Senators.

As CREW tweeted, "We're sure it's just a coincidence that these Senators are opposed to the #ForThePeopleAct while also benefiting from millions of dollars from the Koch network, which is very much opposed to the bill. Totally and completely unrelated, right?"

But Koch and other dark money diarrhea sources are running into a little problem. Ending dark money is enormously popular on all sides of the political spectrum.

"The Koch network and other dark money groups know exactly how popular this democracy reform is and how much it threatens the broken campaign finance system they depend on. That’s why they’re doing their best to defeat it quietly in Congress, aided by the senators whose campaigns they’ve boosted with millions of dollars of secret money."

In other words, they wouldn't be able to run "call your senators and tell them to vote for dark money" ads because no one would do it. So they'd have to BRIBE Senators to go against their constituents' wishes instead and hope the voters forget.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant against corruption. If your Senator is named Marsha Blackburn, Roy Blount, John Cornyn, Tom Cotton, Joni Ernst, Ron Johnson, Roger Marshall?

SHINE A LIGHT.

Also, WTF, Joe Manchin.