With the American electoral season now in high gear, the question for high technology oriented voters is how to decode the candidates. Given the prevalence of high-generality, committee-crafted, carefully calibrated position papers, the right way to proceed is to watch not what a candidate says he will do but what he actually did. The focus of this column is John McCain. Much has been made of Mr McCain’s maverick status. Nowhere is this more in evidence than when he, alone among Republicans in both chambers of Congress, and one of only five senators of either party, voted against the 1996 Telecom Act.  It is a fact often mentioned but rarely analysed. Mr McCain’s action helps us to weigh his strengths and weaknesses. The three basic models for political figures are to be a pragmatist, or a purist, or a leader; that is, being results-oriented, ideological, or transformational. Which one is Mr McCain? [read more]