NEW YORK -- Sen. John McCain, straining to match Sen. Barack Obama's fundraising juggernaut, inadvertently reached out to an unlikely donor: Russia's U.N. ambassador Vitaly I. Churkin.The Russian mission to the United Nations furnished a copy of a Sept. 29 campaign letter it received urging Churkin to contribute up to $5,000 to "stop the Obama Democrats from seizing control of the entire federal government.""Please know this -- we will not concede any region to the Democrats," the letter states. The Russian mission issued a statement saying "we have received a letter from Senator John McCain with a request for a financial donation to his presidential election campaign. In this respect we have to reiterate that neither Russia's permanent mission to the United Nations, nor the Russian government or its officials finance political activities in foreign countries."It is illegal for an American political candidate to accept campaign contributions from a foreign government. "It was just a mistake. We don't solicit folks who can't give," said McCain-Palin spokesman Brian Rogers. Asked whether there were any other ambassadors that they planned to solicit, Rogers laughed and said, "I hope not. Maybe we'll find out tomorrow."
