McCain's race for the Nomination

John McCain, Senator from Arizona, until this point has been considered the most likely GOP nominee for President of the United States. Time Magazine has McCain as an odds on favorite, with the closest opponent, Rudy Giuliani at 5-1.

As a candidate for the Republican Nomination in 2000, McCain is no stranger to the contest. And he already has over $1.5million is his campaign account, and growing, after he launched his Exploratory Committee last November.

McCain has learned lessons from 2000, after he secured a victory in New Hampshire early, but then couldn't maintain the momentum, and was considered to have gone off message. He made various attacks on the religious right of the GOP at that time, but since then has been working hard to win their favour.

Like Mitt Romney, McCain has determined that to win the nomination, he needs to court the conservative base of the GOP. However, the media view McCain as a maverick in the GOP and he hasn't gone out of his way to change this perception, emphasising his desire to try to secure moderate Republicans too.

Yet McCain's detractors consider that he is terribly inconsistent, and his positions cross a wide spectrum of views. The religious right accuse him of being soft on same sex marriage, given that he voted in the Senate for States to have the right to decide on this issue. The conservative base also point out his fairly moderate and less hard line view on illegal immigration, particularly from Mexico. McCain's efforts on Campaign Finance reform also put him at odds with many in the party.

And John McCain, who would be 72 at the time of Inauguration in 2009, would be the oldest ever first term President.

John McCain has tied himself inextricably to the the Iraq War. As a Hawk, McCain is one of the strongest supporters of the war on terror. Since the Mid-Terms, McCain has been talking very loudly about the need to send more US troops to Iraq to try to secure a victory.

If the 2008 election is all about Iraq, and the failed US position, there will be question marks about the strategy of nominating such a strong supporter of the war.

McCain is likely to be the favorite candidate for some time, but there is no doubt that Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are close on his heels. As is usually the case, being a front runner can often be a burden, with other candidates attacking in order to get their much needed coverage.

McCain's varying positions in the last few years, and his possible attempts to try to be all things for all people might yet bring him unstuck in his quest to be President.