Arizona Senator John McCain has been a key backer of Connecticut Congressman Christopher Shays over the years - appearing numerous times in Fairfield County to stump for Shays during his perennially tough re-election bids.  On Tuesday, it seems, Congressman Shays returned the favor by travelling to Nashua, New Hampshire, to support the Arizonan’s bid for President of the United States.

The presumptive frontrunner a year ago, John McCain’s campaign was largely written off during the summer when unpopular stands on the surge in Iraq and on immigration reform caused McCain’s fundraising efforts to dry up.  He laid off half his staff and seemed destined for the scrap heap of history as yet another failed Presidential candidate from Arizona.  But then, in the last few weeks of 2007, with his support for the surge looking prescient and Mike Huckabee’s so-called Huckaboom causing unrest amongst economic conservatives and foreign policy wonks, many people began taking a second look at Senator McCain.  He picked up major endorsements from the Concord Monitor, the Boston Globe, and the Des Moines Register.  And now, with six days remaining until the New Hampshire primary, the polling shows a virtual tie between McCain and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

According to the Nashua Telegraph, Congressman Shays was on the trail with McCain, and commented on the thoroughness of the New Hampshire voters: “It’s so clear to me, you all take this job selecting the next president of the United States very seriously,” Shays said. 

Later today, McCain will be joined by other Connecticut pol as Senator Joe Lieberman will again visit New Hampshire in support of Senator McCain’s Presidential bid.