McCain's shady donor bundles

In an article posted late yesterday to washingtonpost.com, Post reporter Matthew Mosk takes a blind jab at the fundraising activities of Harry Sargeant III, a so-called fundraising "bundler," who has raised over $100,000 for John McCain from a wide network of donors who each gave within the federal individual donation limit of $2,300.

Some of the most prolific givers in Sargeant's network live in modest homes in Southern California's Inland Empire. Most had never given a political contribution before being contacted by Sargeant or his associates. Most said they have never voiced much interest in politics. And in several instances, they had never registered to vote. And yet, records show, some families have ponied up as much as $18,400 for various candidates between December and March.

Both Sargeant and the donors were vague when asked to explain how Sargeant persuaded them to give away so much money.

So this piece could turn out to be the first glimpse of a major scandal, or it's the Post trying to copy the Times' playbook - raising its notoriety by splashing onto the Web a whiff of scandal that hasn't been proven yet. 

Either way, what kind of guy answers questions about his campaign fundraising activities like this?

"I have a lot of Arab business partners. I do a lot of business in the Middle East. I've got a lot of friends," Sargeant said in a telephone interview yesterday. "I ask my friends to support candidates that I think are worthy of supporting. They usually come through for me."