Political operatives used to be content dredging up the dead to stuff the ballot box. Cold hard stiffs, however, aren't as useful when it comes time to raise cold hard cash. (Blame the death tax!) Fortunately, some especially fertile donors have hit upon a solution: writing checks for their young children.

The Washington Post, for instance, found a two-year-old generous enough to donate the maximum $2,300 to Barack Obama. ("Obama Baby" YouTube video forthcoming? Who wants to bet how long it'll take?) In completely unrelated news,

the amount written by those identifying themselves as students on contribution forms has risen dramatically this year, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. During the first six months of the 2000 presidential campaign, students gave $338,464. In 2004, that rose to $538,936.

This year, the amount has nearly quadrupled, to $1,967,111.

The Post explains why all this is happening:

Congress tried to outlaw political contributions from those under age 18 as part of the McCain-Feingold Act in 2002, but the Supreme Court struck down that provision as an infringement on the constitutional rights of minors. With that ruling in mind, the Federal Election Commission wrote new regulations two years ago that tried to balance what it considered a legitimate desire among some children to make political contributions against the possibility that parents would seek to pad their donations by funneling money through children.


If you build a wall, they'll find a way around it. My brother's dog tends to lean Democratic, by the way....