@corbe
What difference does it make if they were paid,or doing it on their own,when the end result is the same?
Because on a discussion board, it's not really the "end result" that matters -- it's the process of getting there. Having decent discussions with others is the actual goal. If someone is being paid to push particular opinions, that means they are not open to good arguments, or to admitting when they are wrong, etc.. It's basically a guarantee that they are arguing in bad fait that will say things they know to be false simply because they are getting paid.
All that being said, I would be surprised if
@Right_in_Virginia is actually getting paid. Because if she was the type of person to be pushing a candidate while being paid and not disclosing that fact, why wouldn't she just lie and say "I am not being paid"? None of us could disprove that, and it would end that topic. I take her refusal to say as one based on principal rather than a desire to conceal that fact.
I could be wrong, but that's how it seems to me.