It is not a secret that Barack Obama proved to be a record-setting fundraiser, generating large sums of money that will come good when he'll try to challenge John McCain in the states which traditionally choose to go with the Republican candidate.

Still, this great skill brought him to reverse an earlier promise and to decline public funding, a decision that was met with a firestorm of negative response. But if that wasn't enough, in the zeal to collect as much money as possible, Obama's campaign may have violated laws against gambling in the state of Minnesota.

The jackpot: meeting the candidate
The campaign's national website called for donation of $5 up to the limit of $2300, promising the donors they can "win" a chance to be one of 10 supporters chosen to meet Barack Obama in person. This might look as a fair bargain, but according to the Minnesota Gambling Control Board, political campaigns are not allowed to run raffles of any kind.

Merely a raffle
A spokesman of the campaign responded to this by denying the offer to be a raffle. According to his words, the 10 lucky ones will be chosen by judgements involving their individual histories and all sorts of relevant personal information. This, needless to say, does not involve any "luck" or something of this sort, but life would have been much easier for Obama if this was mentioned in the offer itself.

Possible solution
Tom Barrett, head of the Minnesota Gambling Control Board, said the contest could become legal if declared void in Minnesota, or by allowing everyone to take place, regardless of their contribution.