Of course it does, provided the associate(s) have an agenda of anti-Americanism, anarchy, criminal acts, domestic terrorism, and employ or endorse mayhem against the general populace to achieve their ends.

Big-city politics (Chicago, Boston, Detroit, NYC, LA) are considered more notorious simply because of the greater amount of money involved. None of these places has cornered the market on shadiness. Small-city/town and county have their share, but don't have the media exposure and money to match.

Perspective is difficult to attain when only a single light shines into the prism of fact. Distortion is commonplace in such situations, and we all need to realize that. It's too easy to run with a single source of information and be dead wrong - and that goes for all of the candidates in this campaign.