McCain has Amigos in High Places

Just a reminder about Mr.McCain's establishment credentials:

AS the US presidential hopeful John McCain faces New Hampshire voters, his fate will be of particular interest to a big name in corporate Australia. Sol Trujillo, the chief executive of Telstra, has emerged as a key player in the Republican senator's campaign.

Mr Trujillo, who pocketed a salary of almost $12 million in 2006-07, is one of the chairmen on the decorated Vietnam veteran's National Hispanic Advisory Board, which is part of the senator's White House campaign.

Although Mr Trujillo is travelling in the US at present, a Telstra spokesman said he was not aware of him directly taking part in campaigning. Mr Trujillo has been a big fundraiser for the three-time presidential hopeful, acting as his chief fundraiser in 2000.

We need to know this since the Arizona Senator is now a major contender for the nomination of his party, and therefore in a position to become the next President:

Senator John McCain of Arizona won the New Hampshire primary, handing rival Mitt Romney his second defeat and further muddying the waters for the Republican presidential nomination.

McCain had 37 percent of the vote, while Romney trailed with 29 percent, with 27 percent of the precincts reporting, according to results posted by Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. The race on the Democratic side was still too close to call.

The victory was crucial for McCain, 71, who banked on New Hampshire's independent voters to give his resurgent campaign a jolt of momentum heading into Michigan and other early primaries and caucuses. It's a setback for former Massachusetts Governor Romney, who lost to ex-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in Iowa on Jan. 3 and had been counting on victories in Iowa and New Hampshire to gain front-runner status.

``It means new life'' for McCain, said Jennifer Duffy, the Senate editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington. ``It means that Republicans go into South Carolina and beyond without any front-runner. It's anybody's game.''

McCain, who trailed in polls last month, closed the gap on Romney in the final days before the first-in-the-nation primary. He was helped by the same independent voters who gave him an 18-point victory over George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential primary.