Election Diary

Barack Obama may want to give thanks to Good Will and Doodad Pro. Or maybe he won't. Those are the made-up names of two individuals who have been sending money into the Obama campaign without, apparently, wanting their true identity known. Trouble is, they have been a bit too generous. The Federal Election Commission highlighted those two names to the Obama campaign recently, noting that they had both given far in excess of the allowable $2,300-per-person (£1,300) limit on donations to presidential candidates. Doodad Pro gave more than $17,000 – money that must now be given back to avoid legal trouble. This is no big deal for a campaign that has raised a staggering $485m so far, mostly from small contributions. But it is raising a red flag over whether the Obama camp has been doing enough to police where the cash is coming... [read full story]