The New York Times addresses Mssrs. McCain and Obama on the subject of bundling advising both should pledge to make it a priority to rein in the practice should be elected President. The Times goes a step further and says that while addressing bundling is important, full public financing of campaigns should be the ultimate goal.

Research done by Public Campaign Action Fund's Campaign Money Watch project has revealed that though the candidates in this year's presidential race may be different than in years past, the big donors sure aren't -- at least when it comes to the migration of President Bush's best bundlers to the donor rolls of Sen. John McCain's campaign. One hundred and twenty-four bundlers for Bush's campaign are now bundling for McCain, and have brought in just shy of $26 million.

In these campaign contribution-limited times, the big-money bundlers to the presidential campaigns are worth their weight in gold (check or credit card also accepted). McCain, whose Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act helped establish current federal campaign contribution limits, is out-raising Obama on the bundler front but neither man is exactly eschewing the practice that many have called a loophole for big donor influence.

Everyone is chewing over the bundler problem -- both in terms of the influence they exert over, and the potential liability they can be to candidates. Some preach better background research on where the money is coming from and some, like the Hartford Courant, counsel more sweeping reform.

The Helena Independent Record calls for mandatory disclosure of bundlers to presidential campaigns, noting that two high-profile bundlers, Jack Abramoff and Norman Hsu, have helped Montana candidates. Hsu, the felon-on-the-lam, gathered $4,750 for Montana Senator Jon Tester. Tester's predecessor, Conrad Burns, took $150,000 from Abramoff and his associates.

Public Citizen has launched the 2008 version of their very useful White House for Sale database tracking the big donation bundlers for each presidential candidate, and who among them are lobbyists. With bundlers playing a bigger role than ever before in this race, anticipated to cost at least $1 billion, this is a good tool to bookmark for connecting the dots between big donors, candidates, and policy priorities.