A brief note on the strange customs of legislator-to-legislator campaign donations.

Peter Hardin has an article on Senator George Allen’s fundraising for his 2006 re-election campaign. Allen already has more than $5 million in the bank — and no opponent. That means that, like Hillary Clinton, he is likely to have millions of dollars left over that he can plough into his 2008 presidential campaign.

So here’s the puzzle. Allen is likely to run for president. Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, is likely to do so as well. Yet Frist’s PAC gave Allen $10,000 — money that Allen may use in the primaries against Frist! Why? My guess is that this is some sort of mutual back-scratching in which Frist repays Allen for heading the National Republican Senatorial Committee last cycle.

(It’s also worth noting that Allen’s report show signs of potential early 2008 support from top conservatives, including donors such as former Colorado Senate candidate Peter Coors of Colorado, Jerry Falwell’s wife, former White House operative Mary Matalin and former independent counsel Ken Starr. For more on Allen, see my previous posts about him.)