In an election season, there is but one food the political machine will accept... cold, hard, cash.  Indeed, money is the new yardstick by which we judge our candidates.  Above stance on issues or voting record, Americans want to know who has the biggest pile of Benjamins.  That obsession has led to some questionable donors and not a few scandals.

Democrats, far and away the leaders in the funding race, have been the hardest hit by these scandals. 

From Hillary donor Norman Hsu, convicted felon and fugitive from the law, to questions of mysterious minimum-wage dishwashers forking over thousands then suddenly disappearing, progressive candidates have come to see their war chests turn into revolving cash machines... some comes in, more has to be returned.

To fight this trend, Democratic National Committee (DNC) fundraisers have chosen to harvest their green from a new field of donors - a field free of felons, con artists, embezzlers, and other encumbrances.  Children are to be the new frontier in fundraising. 

Dennis Curtis, of the Cincinnati group Progressive Outreach On Politics, couldn't be more excited.

"Trust fund babies are the greatest." said Curtis.  "It's all legal of course, so long as nobody finds out.  They give $2300, their sister pays another $2300, maybe their cousin, and pretty soon, you have a nice chunk to stick in the bank."

"And with very few exceptions, kids are not disgraced lobbyists, or convicted felons, or embezzling the funds from their company."

Cindy Lu Hu, 9, of California, spoke to us about her donation but would not identify the candidate, said that it was a particularly hard choice for her, given her circumstances.

"I cried a little, yeah,” said Cindy.  "I had been saving some money my grandfather gave me.  Mom told me I could get my boobs done when I turn 12, but my dad said that if a Republican's elected, I won't live to be that old.  Sometimes you have to make a choice - big boobs or the end of the world."

While technically legal, the practice has come under fire in recent months from political watchdog groups who say that 'bundlers', a term for fundraising groups who solicit multiple individual donations and provide them to campaigns as a larger sum, are trying to skirt campaign finance law which limits the amount any one person can donate to a candidate.

"The criteria that must be met are that the donation is from the child's own funds, and they make the decision." says Fred Young of Election Dissection in Washington, D.C.  "Fact of the matter is, we have toddlers deciding to hand over two grand to these people - toddlers whose biggest decision to date is whether to eat the crayons or the paste.  This is a scam."

"This is parents laundering money through their children." 

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) has twice returned money donated by children in the past three months, but only after being approached by the media.  In September, USA Today asked him about two kids, 7 and 8, who donated $4600 apiece.  Then in October, he was exposed by the Washington Post for accepting maximum contributions from a 2-year old and four other family members ages 9-13.

Obama's campaign has stated that they do not accept donations from anyone under 15.

Hillary Clinton

John Edwards

Barack Obama

Curtis would not address Young's charges, but did say that he was disappointed in Senator Obama's reaction to media scrutiny.

"That was good, legal, money," he said.  "I'm not surprised he's losing to Hillary.  He's not ready to do what it takes to be President.  When the press came calling he just ran and hid like a little girl."

"I don't think the Clinton Machine would have done that."

Whatever the policies of individual candidates and despite the cries of critics, Curtis tells us that his organization and others like it are moving full steam ahead with this program so long as the DNC sees fit to take the donations. 

There's billions to be had, he says, so long as you have the courage to take it.