Obama Accepting Untraceable Donations

Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign confirmed that it allows donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that can be used to evade limits on whether and how much an individual is legally allowed to give, or to mask a contributor’s identity. (Washington Post)

Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign only examines its books after the money has been donated (and refunds any it finds improper), rather than using basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions in the first place.

Conservative bloggers have tested the vetting using obviously fake names. Their critique feeds into Sen. John McCain’s broader campaign attack that “we don’t know who Obama is.”