Notepad

"Because Gov. Barbour has been a great supporter of Sen. Vitter's in the past, the campaign was happy to have his PAC host a fundraiser for Sen. Vitter and accept his donation," Vitter spokesman Joel DiGrado said in response to e-mail questions about whether Pickering intended to aid Vitter.

"No comment," said Austin Barbour, who is treasurer of his uncle Haley's PAC and works at Capitol Resources with Pickering. Henry Barbour, another nephew of the governor who has managed campaigns for Pickering and Haley Barbour, is a partner at the lobbying firm.

Pickering was not at his office when a reporter called on Monday and did not immediately return a message left on Tuesday morning.

It wouldn't be at all unusual for Barbour to help Vitter, a sitting Gulf Coast senator whom he has donated to in the past. And Pickering, who obviously is personally close to Barbour and his nephews, has no history of donating to his former House colleague Vitter. So it's certainly possible that contributions from Pickering to Barbour and from Barbour to Vitter are unrelated.

A little more than two years ago, Vitter's phone number turned up in the records of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called D.C. madam, who later said she knew the senator as "David from C Street." Vitter said at a press conference in July 2007 that he and his wife had reconciled following his commission of a "serious sin."

If Louisiana's conservative electorate is able to get past it and vote for Vitter -- and CQ rates the race "Leans Republican" -- that would be good news for Pickering in neighboring Mississippi.

Pickering said he wanted to spend more time with his family when he announced in 2007 that he would retire in January of 2009. But by July 1 he had filed for divorce. His estranged wife Leisha Pickering responded with an "alienation of affection" lawsuit charging that her husband had carried on an affair with an old college sweetheart while he lived at the now-infamous C Street House that has been a sanctuary for Sen. John Ensign and Gov. Mark Sanford, conservative Republicans who acknowledged their own extramarital affairs earlier this year.

Leisha Pickering alleges that Chip Pickering gave up the chance to be appointed to the Senate by Barbour in 2007 because of an ultimatum from his mistress. Pickering had long been seen as the heir apparent to retiring Sen. Trent Lott, and his name is sure to surface in any conversation about who might succeed Sen. Thad Cochran.

While Barbour's PAC files monthly reports, Vitter's next report isn't due until Oct. 15, and CHIP PAC has switched from monthly reporting to a semi-annual schedule that will not require a filing until early next year.