The New York Times has reported that Senator John McCain has brought on board Mercer Reynolds to assist in his fundraising efforts. Reynolds, according the New York Times, helped "Bush raise a record $273 million for the 2004 re-election campaign." The Times reporter Elizabeth Bumiller claims:

"The development was a major sign that the Republican financial establishment was coalescing around Mr. McCain, who has often been at odds with his own party, particularly conservatives. It also signaled that Mr. Bush's political apparatus was moving into action for Mr. McCain, a onetime insurgent and competitor to Mr. Bush in 2000 who has had a difficult relationship with the president."

It may be too early to tell if the GOP will truly back McCain, but it is clear that his campaign means business by hiring Reynolds. Reynolds has a long history of strong relationships to corporate America. He used to work for Coca Cola, he was a business partner and cofounder of Reynolds, DeWitt & Co., co-chairman of Spectrum 7 Energy Corporation, Chairman and CEO of Reynolds Plantation, an 8000-acre lake and golf community on Lake Oconee, east of Atlanta, Georgia, according to SourceWatch. In 2001 he was confirmed as United States Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

In addition, the New York Times reports that Reynolds "Other major fund-raisers for Mr. McCain include Henry R. Kravis, the financier; A. Gerald Perenchio, the former chairman and chief executive of Univision Communications, the nation's largest Spanish-language broadcaster; and Lewis M. Eisenberg, the former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee and the former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey." As of the last campaign finance reporting, McCain had raised just over $41 million, far behind both Barack Obama ($102 million) and Hillary Clinton ($115 million).