Twice this year I’ve been astonished to see Ralph Reed’s mug appear in election coverage. After the New Hampshire primaries the man who received over $4 million in Indian casino cash from Jack Abramoff was talking politics on CNN. Viewer reaction was intensely negative and CNN, embarrassed, canned him. While his campaign is not answering questions about it, it looks like John McCain decided that it wasn’t the best idea to appear at a fundraiser with a participant in one of the biggest corruption scandals in history. Or perhaps Reed decided that he didn’t need to be an undue distraction.

Either way, smart move.

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Really? Not to pick on John McCain too much, but couldn’t you find someone in Atlanta to host a fundraiser who didn’t receive $4 million from Jack Abramoff to run a phony religious campaign against an Indian casino that was actually organized by another Indian casino to reduce competition?

McCain headed the Senate investigation that uncovered these payments. I know he has to raise money and patch up relationships in Republican quarters that have opposed him in the past. But Ralph Reed? Really?

Even CNN was embarrassed after they let Ralph Reed appear on television to cover the New Hampshire primaries.

The guy was involved in one of the biggest corruption scandals in American history. And it isn’t even history yet, the investigation is ongoing. I hear Bob Ney’s getting out of jail, maybe he can host a fundraiser too.

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Three makes a trend, right? Today, there are three news stories on presidential bundlers - campaign contributors who solicit money from other contributors and bundle it together - and their activities. All of these stories highlight the need for bundling disclosure rules from the Federal Election Commission. But two of these stories pinpoint the potential for abuse in the bundling system.

The Washington Post looks at the odd practices of one Harry Sargent III, the owner of an oil trading company with billion dollar defense contracts. Sargent has raised over $50,000 for Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid from a collection of Arab-Americans who refuse to discuss why they gave money to the Republican’s campaign: (more…)

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The Pfizer-General Motors-Northwest Airlines-United-Coors Democratic and Republican conventions are looking for more sponsors; Dodd doesn’t understand acronyms; sometimes it’s not really disclosure; bad campaign donations; ethics complaints; angry foreigners; and our favorite frozen food fan, William Jefferson. Only the Sunlight Foundation sponsors this news: (more…)

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