Even though only five days remain until Election Day, reports are still coming out about questionable donors to John McCain’s presidential campaign. In The Chicago Tribune, Andrew Zajac, Ray Gibson and Bob Secter write about Shi Sheng Hao, “a virtual unknown in business and political circles.” Since September 2007, he has given $120,000, even though, before then, he had no record of making donations. Hao’s relatives have also given more than $269,000, almost all of it to McCain and the Republican Party.

In other news, a USA Today poll shows that Americans strongly come down on the side of reducing money’s influence in politics. By a 3-to-1 margin, Americans said too much money is being spent on the presidential race. The poll “finds wide support for public financing of presidential campaigns, including a third who say the current voluntary system should be mandatory.”

Finally, Politico’s Jeanne Cummings compiles a list of the best and worst finance decisions of the 2008 elections. Interestingly, No. 2 on the “best” list is John McCain’s finessing of the public financing system in the primaries. Yes, it made sense strategically, but it also raised plenty of legal questions.

Tags: fundraising, McCain, public financing, Shi Sheng Hao

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