Election 2008: Shorts

• The Associated Press delves into the latest campaign finance reports for U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, and Democratic challenger Anne Barth. Both have attracted leadership PAC funds from within their respective parties. Barth has zeroed in on the sizable roster of Capito donors from the crisis-embroiled banking & finance sector, while Capito cites the hefty contributions to Barth from Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

• After hinting that he might quit dabbling in West Virginia politics altogether, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship has given $4,600 to Jim Gilmore, the former governor of Virginia and GOP candidate for U.S. Senate there, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

• The Charleston Gazette reports that the November ballot could list as many as six presidential candidates "the most state officials can recall." Besides Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, "state Mountain Party has become a branch of the national Green Party, which chose former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney as its presidential nominee earlier this month," the article said. Meanwhile, "independent candidate Ralph Nader, Constitution Party nominee Chuck Baldwin and Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr all are making moves to get on the state's ballot."