Russia has again entered the American presidential campaign. In the search for funding, the McCain campaign solicited Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin for a contribution. I am willing to concede that the letter sent to Russia’s UN mission was the result of a computer generated error. However, it shows yet again just how imperfect America’s campaigns, fund raising, elections are.

The Russian Embassy shrugged off the solicitation, rightfully recognising that American election laws prohibit the use of foreign money. In addition, it is against Russian law to contribute to foreign political parties and campaigns. This is at a time when the US lavishly spends money on foreign leaders, political parties, and elections. All of this is done under the rubric of “promoting democracy” globally.

McCain’s junk mail to the Russian Ambassador probably would have been completely passed over as a silly error if it weren’t for the Republican nominee’s attitude towards Russia. McCain’s understanding of Russia and the state of the post-Soviet space is not only out of date, but also dangerous. He wrongly sees Russia as an enemy of the US and continues to embrace a neocon agenda that is detrimental to international security.

As far as I am concerned, McCain’s junk mail to the Russian UN mission in New York is representative of McCain’s foreign policy views in general – they’re junk! Hopefully, if the polls hold as they are we will be spared experiencing the world as McCain sees it. And in the meantime, the US could do a lot more to clean up its election campaign financing.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.