McCain can chip away at America

WHO says the American Presidency can be bought? Tell that cliché to Rudy Giuliani as he laments his strategic blunder of staying out of the early Republican primaries in favour of spending his fighting fund in this week's Super Tuesday run-offs.

Such was the momentum built up by John McCain that Giuliani, despite having squillions of dollars more behind him, never even made the big event – so it was goodbye to Rudi's Tuesday. Tell it to Mitt Romney who with his own personal wealth of $200 million could campaign as long as he wanted but has now withdrawn – meaning McCain will definitely have a tilt at the Presidency next November.

The ex-Vietnam prisoner of war who refused to leave the POW camp for two years until his last comrades were also released is striking a chord in a way that few Republicans thought he could. In a political scene where the norm is for spin, half-truths and downright deceit, John McCain can come over as an honest politician, if that isn't a contradiction in terms.

When campaigning in Florida, he was asked about the idea of establishing a special federal catastrophe fund to bale the state out from all of the windstorms it experiences.

The easy thing to do was to make some nice noises about what a good idea it would be and then to do nothing about it if in power. Instead, McCain said he was not in favour of spending $200 billion a year simply for the state of Florida – a comment described as the equivalent of saying he didn't like oranges.

It is this frankness that is winning him friends, especially amongst independent voters not registered to either party, and it is this broad appeal that could give the Republicans a chance of retaining the presidency when many commentators had written them off.

Still, he is known to flip-flop on issues and that could yet encourage many robust Republicans to distrust him and stay at home. Facing Hillary Clinton may, however, be enough to get even the most reluctant Republicans out to vote. McCain is no Reagan that unites the party and can be expected to see tax cuts as a tradable commodity for policies he feels more strongly about, such as security.

He has been described to me by my man in Washington as the least ideological republican nominee since Jerry Ford in 1976 and, with a track record for chasing press, is vulnerable to become a most liberal President.

Super Tuesday didn't settle anything, but it suggests McCain can now look for a running mate while Obama and Clinton slug it out to the death.


Mad sad world

So Labour MSP Andy Kerr has been referred to the procurator fiscal after he was four days late in registering his acceptance of a couple of tickets for the Community Shield last summer. This is a pointless waste of time and should be politely thrown out.

Every year, on the weekend of the Community Shield, parliamentarians from Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Westminster pay their own way to compete in a "home internationals" football tournament raising thousands of pounds for the charity of the winning team's choice. McDonald's provides the hotel and match tickets – and Scotland, sometimes with Kerr in the team, won the contest three times in a row and got to keep the trophy.

This was in full glare of the public eye with no favours being sought or offered – I know, I played in the same team for five years. Kerr's tardiness should be left to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, leaving the fiscal to spend valuable time on real crimes.


Poor start

George Burley doesn't want Scotland to play England at Wembley – because the Old Firm happen to have some money-making tours lined up and some players might not be available to him.

What a sad, sad start to his Scotland managerial career. I had hoped that, having managed Hearts, Burley might believe that Scottish football does not begin and end in Glasgow, but I now have my doubts.

Many previous Scotland managers could surely tell him that he will enjoy plenty of instances when his best-laid schemes gang aft a-gley after an Old Firm manager has told him that a player central to Burley's plans is injured and unavailable.

That it is usually just before an important club match is purely coincidental, of course.

The campaign to reinstate the home internationals has been a long and hard one. That some entirely self-serving Old Firm exhibition matches should get in the road of Scotland playing England at Wembley or Hampden makes the name Scottish Football Association a misnomer.

There are enough decent players desperate to pull their country's jersey on, so reverse this decision and get this much missed fixture back on the sporting calendar.