http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081008/D93M0K5G0.html

Obama money from abroad could total $3.3 million

Oct 7, 9:13 PM (ET)

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has raised
about $3.3 million from contributors who did not list a home state or who
designated their state with an abbreviation that did not match one of the 50
states or U.S. territories, according to records provided by the Federal
Election Commission.

Most of those contributors did identify themselves as living abroad in foreign
cities. Under federal law, foreign citizens cannot make political
contributions, but U.S. citizens living abroad can.

The Republican National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election
Commission on Monday asking for an investigation of Obama's foreign
contributions, among other things.

The FEC on Monday provided The Associated Press with a spread sheet of
potential overseas donors that did not include contributors who left their
state designation blank. As a result, the list was incomplete.

The $3.3 million total does not include donors who have given less than $200
and whose contributions do not have to be itemized. Some of that money could
also have come from overseas. About half of Obama's $455 million in
contributions so far are unitemized. The campaign does not identify those
donors.

Obama senior adviser David Axelrod, speaking to reporters en route to
Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday, noted that anyone can donate to the campaign
through the Internet. "We monitor these things as best we can," he said.

Republican John McCain's campaign lists all his donors, even those who give
less than $200, on his Web site.

The Obama campaign has begun to request passport numbers from donors to verify
their citizenship.

Asked why the Obama campaign doesn't do the same and open its database to the
public, Axelrod said the campaign returns improper contributions.

"Obviously we've got a huge database of contributors," he said.
"It's valuable
to our campaign... We're probably more forthcoming about disclosure than
anyone."

Independent watchdog groups, however, have asked the campaign to provide more
information about its fundraisers and to at least provide information about
small donors by zip code or country from where they donate.

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