In the United States, the way has been cleared for Senator John McCain to contest further important primaries in his campaign for the Republican nomination in this year's presidential election. Mr McCain caused another upset by narrowly beating the party's front runner, George W Bush, in the Republican primary in Michigan. As expected he also had a comfortable win in his home state of Arizona. McCain's campaign had been badly damaged by Governor Bush's resounding victory in the South Carolina primary last weekend. However, the latest results have ensured that he will stay in the race for the so-called "Super Tuesday" contests on March 7, when Republican primaries will be held in a dozen states, including California and New York.
John McCain had lost badly to George W Bush in South Carolina and the future of his campaign was in serious doubt. However, one of the first lines in McCain's victory speech last night was "what a difference a few days make". While this contest is all about choosing a Republican nominee for President, Democrats and Independents have been able to vote in these first primaries and they have been siding with John McCain.
Things will get tougher for McCain in the important primaries in early March. In states like California, the only votes that will count are the votes of registered Republicans and that gives George W Bush the advantage. However, Bush has lost the financial advantage in this election: he had $70 million to spend at the beginning of this campaign, he now has just $14 million left in the bank.
