(WMR) -- John McCain still believes there is a country called �Czechoslovakia.� He also obviously believes $1 still buys something in the United States.

This editor recently received a solicitation for support from the McCain presidential campaign. Before I tossed it, I noticed a window in the back of the envelope with a brand new, crisp one dollar bill enclosed.

The mass mailing of one dollar bills to potential contributors is right out of the Political Schlock 101 textbook and is an indication as to the desperation of the McCain campaign, which recently underwent another staff shake-up and �reinvention.� Something smacks of old wine in new bottles with the faltering McCain campaign.

McCain must be having trouble raising funds because the first sentence of his solicitation letter states: �I want you to know that I don�t take sending you this $1 bill lightly.�

He continues, in a manner reminiscent of an old-fashioned chain letter: �I understand that there is a chance that you will not send this $1 bill back to me. But I�m willing to take that risk, because after all we�ve been through together in this historic campaign, I believe I can count n you.� Today I need you to send this $1 bill back to me along with $1,000 or $750 of your own to help our campaign take the next crucial steps in this pivotal presidential election.�

The rest of McCain�s solicitation letter is full of typical Republican and neocon tripe about �Jimmy Carter-style� energy policies, socialized medicine, maintaining the �surge� in Iraq, and tax hikes.

The GOP and the McCain campaign have moved the old Republican trick of handing out �walking around money� in political campaigns right into the U.S. postal system. Not only is paying for votes illegal but something tells me that the McCain campaign is treading very closely to committing mail fraud by sending out dollar bills in return for campaign contributions. Of course, some Gucci-shoed GOP attorneys have found some way around the law, likely by having the McCain letter request the $1 bill be returned. My $1 bill from McCain will not be returned, it will be framed as an example of a desperate antic by a doomed campaign.

Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.

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