That's where I see the problem here. "The "having ties" part. How close of a relationship counts as bad action? If a politician is part of (Hello, former Sen. Robert Byrd) the KKK, that's obviously bad. If a politician knowingly helps, supports, or receives support from a KKK org, that's bad. But what if it's more along the ling of, politician receives support form an individual in that person's capacity that does not involve the KKK. However, it comes to light that the supporter is in the KKK but said politician did not know about it. So the politician gets tarred with the "friend of the Klan" label because he had the misfortune of having contact with a person who had a secret life that the politician was not privy to. But, of course, all most people will see and believe is "Senator Whoever is part of the KKK!"
