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Further on our item on Sen. John McCain's growing support among Bush donors: it isn't just the notion that McCain is a frontrunner that is driving this support.

Recall that while McCain has his moments of howling at the moon all by his lonesome, he is also at heart a loyal soldier. And while his conservative credentials have taken a bit of a beating, and he has been critical of the Bush Administration at inconvenient moments, he has supported the Bush Administration when it really counted: namely the falls of 2000 and 2004.

According to folks we've talked to who are supporting McCain and have financially supported George W. Bush, there is a sense that McCain's time has come. That he was loyal to the President, did everything that was asked of him to get this President elected and re-elected, has worked hard to build a Republican majority, and more often than not has worked behind the scenes in the Senate for this Administration, not against it.

This is by no means an attempt by Bush to bigfoot the nomination for McCain. McCain will have to earn that with the base. But what McCain has earned is the opportunity to make the case that he is the best candidate to run and win in 2008 with those who felt the same things about George W. Bush seven years ago.

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John McCain