Politically Supported - And Financially Underwritten - Blogging?

You might want to catch the link and preliminary discussion from the Weekend Link Dump at Green Mountain Daily re: whether it's a big issue or not to have politicians support and underwrite political blogs re a now-slightly-elderly piece from The Times' OpEd back on December 3rd. This concern should not be limited to bloggers either. Anyone who uses a blog as an information resource probably needs to consider it.

Although we're not talking about substantial amounts of money (on the more progressive side, the money being handed out tends to be relatively slight compared to some big bucks aimed at the far right - selling one's soul, of course, should not be cheap ::cough::choke::), I'm not at all certain I think this is a smart. However, I also believe this is an individual decision.

Yet, when a blogger does take either a large sum once or a recurring amount in regular sponsorship, I do believe this should be noted upfront.

Your opinions?