Mark Steyn and Ace of Spades‘ Dave in Texas, among others, have reported that Mary T. Biskup of Manchester, Missouri is listed as the donor of $174,800 to the Obama campaign. Here is Steyn’s account:

Which brings us to the case of Mary T Biskup of Manchester, Mo, who discovered there were scores of small online donations made to the Obama campaign in her name, even though she hasn’t given him a dime. They added up to $174,800, which is a wee bit over the $2,300 limit. This very generous donation was not billed to her own card, but to someone else’s – meaning (as the Post says) “someone appropriated her name”.

If I were Mary T. Biskup of Manchester, Mo, I would tearfully confess to having made the donations, claim confusion about the law — easy enough if she’s over a certain age –, and ask for $172,500 back. Would not the Obama campaign be legally obligated to refund the money? She could offer the FEC a no-arguments, no-lawyers, on-the-spot 10% or 20% or 30% penalty up front and still come out way ahead. If so inclined, she could pass on $2,300 (but no more) to the McCain-Palin campaign as further punishment for the anonymous perpetrators of the fraud on her good name.

Hmmm, I wonder if anyone has contributed to the Obama campaign as ‘Dr. Weevil’ (it wouldn’t be the most unlikely name on the list) or [insert my real name here]? This looks like an opportunity for patriotic Republicans to ‘do well by doing good’. To put it another way: if sleazy Democrats have disguised their illegal contributions by attaching the names of unsuspecting Republicans or independents to them, it could and should come back to bite them.