In his otherwise stultifying appearance with Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa today, John Kerry noted the following intriguing tidbit, according to the Associated Press:

Kerry campaign donors apparently come in all sizes. He told Philbin and Ripa that a woman in New York gave him $385 that her 8-year-old son had raised selling homemade campaign buttons, and a 6-year-old in Philadelphia handed over a plastic container with $685 he had earned selling homemade campaign bracelets.

But according to this AP article, the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law (of which Sen. Kerry was a co-sponsor) makes it illegal for anyone under 17 to make political contributions. Here’s the relevant section:

SEC. 507. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY MINORS.

Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C.

431 et seq.) (as amended by section 401) is amended by adding at

the end the following:

`SEC. 326. PROHIBITION OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY MINORS.
An individual who is 17 years old or younger shall not make a
contribution to a candidate or a contribution or donation to a
committee of a political party.’.

Regis and Kelly were apparently too busy nodding and fawning to follow up. Inquiring minds want to know: Is Kerry admitting to violating the election law he co-sponsored? Were these kiddie cash donations reported? How many other tot-sized buckets of money has he accepted? Will he return the money to the munchkins and stop exploiting the children? Is this what he means by “Whatever it takes?”

Update: A reader reminds me of the December 2003 court decision overturning the section banning kiddie cash. Says the reader: “That being said, it doesn’t diminish Kerry’s hypocrisy…and it’s hilarious to think of him taking money from children.” Yup.

Update II: It’s still illegal for kids to contribute under campaign finance regulations in the following states:

— Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas count contributions from minors toward their parent’s contribution limits.
— Connecticut prohibits anyone under the age of 16 from giving more than $30.
— Massachusetts limits contributions from children under 18 to $25 a year.
— Florida limits minors to $100 for each candidate or political committee.
— Kentucky does not allow contributions from minors to exceed $1,000.
— Alaska and West Virginia prohibit minors from contributing to campaigns money that was given to them by their parents for that purpose.

Update III: Another reader weighs in:

It may be now legal for minors to donate to campaigns, but I believe there is a requirement that the donors’ names over a miniumum amount be reported, is there not? Wanna bet that neither of these kids or their parents names aren’t listed?

Speaking of donations, do you recall the Remington semi-auto shotgun that a bunch of union thugs gave to Kerry at a rally in either WV or PA? Supposedly the campaign is going to give have to give that one back because it is illegal to obtain or receive a firearm outside one’s home state and the donor and receiver were committing violations of the federal firearms laws. Who has custody of
the firearms right now? Who are they going to give it back to? Who purchased it in the first place?Where’s the FFL form 4413 indicating a transfer from a licensed FFL? There’s a whole lot of unanswered questions here.

Do you recall the August post convention Kerry/Edward train ride across
America? The campaign used an Amtrak ( part of the federal govt. )
owned locomotive* and had it painted navy blue and lettered with
Kerry/Edwards, etc. Could you or I get Amtrak to paint a locomotive a
different color with your name? Didn’t think so. And did the Kerry
campaign pay for it?

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