Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor who was McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential election, had a strained relationship with him after he admitted he regretted picking her to be his vice presidential candidate.
His government has also attracted controversy for awarding itself a 30% pay increase shortly after its re-election, and has enjoyed strained relations with Calgary, one of Klein's former strongholds.
But relations between the two men are more strained than at any time since the previous general election, in 2008.The right, then, has problems.
Mindful of Mr. Obama's strained relationship with Mr. Netanyahu and emboldened by a special election victory last week in a heavily Jewish Congressional district in New York, Republicans hope the tensions between Mr. Obama and Israel — underscored by the latest developments at the United Nations — will help propel future political victories for their party.
The powerful Iranian cleric said that some local British embassy staff will be put on trial for allegedly stoking post-election unrest, a move set to plunge already strained ties to a new low.
The treaty was born in the days after Mr. Obama's election as president in 2008, when he decided to "reset" strained ties with Russia.
"It's the usual story at some point in the election campaign," Mr. Brown said in an interview, flashing a strained smile.
The British prime minister, David Cameron, has reached out to Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, expressing hope that his election will create an opportunity for an improvement in long-strained ties between London and Tehran.
This book was written before the recent knife-edge election in Ghana, a successful exercise in democracy, conducted in the most strained of circumstances.
Just weeks after Mr. Netanyahu was perceived by critics as having meddled in America's presidential election by criticizing President Obama's approach to Iran, the Israeli leader's strained relations with Washington are emerging as a hot electoral issue in Israel.
