James Robert Kelley

The 2008 Presidential Election cycle is not the first time John McCain has run for President. He was defeated by George W. Bush in 2000 for the Republican nomination, even though he did well in some of the early primary states.

John McCain first introduced the The McCain–Feingold Act in 1995, in preparation for the 2000 Election. McCain–Feingold was filibustered and did not gain any traction until 2002, after the 2000 Election cycle in which John McCain was defeated by his opponents superior fund raising. I believe this was the main reason he pushed the bill through in 2002.

Rudy Giuliani recently dropped out of the race, mainly due to his inability to raise money under the McCain–Feingold Act’s restrictions on fund raising. Mitt Romney is somewhat immune to this Act, since he is personally wealthy. Ron Paul is also able to raise large amounts of funds from small donors, but there is no doubt that his existing opponents would be able to far out raise McCain if they were able to draw on restricted funds.

Mike Huckabee is a strong example. He does not have much support from small donors, but he would be able to draw in large amounts of money from religious organizations. Mitt Romney would be able to draw funds from corporate interests and Ron Paul would be able to draw funds from Libertarian groups.

With this in mind, I am convinced that John McCain feels assured he will win the nomination, because he has been crafting his plan and laying down the groundwork for over a decade. I am sure some of the readers will be able to point out additional laws and regulations John McCain has influenced to ensure his path to the Presidency, such as influence over election rules and even voting machines.