U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, D-Pennsylvania, has changed his specterforthecure.com Web site after Star-Telegram Watchdog columnist Dave Lieber first reported in his May 3rd column “Investigate Before You Donate”that it might lead visitors to wrongly believe he was raising money to cure fatal diseases – rather than the truth. The site actually raises cash for his reelection campaign.

The matter was brought to his attention by Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit that is the nation’s leading analyzer of political donations.

The item was picked up by the Star-Telegram’s popular political PoliTex blog and then by Politico and Talking Points Memo.

Then an alert blogger, Adam Green at OpenLeft, reported Saturday that Specter’s campaign has altered the site so it is much clearer where the money is actually going.

What’s important here to political donors is the advice from Krumholz: Donors to political campaigns ought to first do smart research before donating. That applies to political donations as it should to any charitable donation – and indeed, any major purchase. Don’t take anything for granted. Don’t make assumptions about where the money is going to go.