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New McCain Ad Targeting Swing States

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June 06, 2008 12:54 PM

ABC News's Ron Claiborne and Bret Hovell report: At the end of the first week of the general election, the campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has launched a major ad buy in swing states that will be important in the general election.

The ad, entitled "Safe," talks about McCain’s record in Vietnam, and will air in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Colorado, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, West Virginia and Minnesota.

The ad itself is consists of McCain, his face in a heavy shadow, speaking directly to the camera about his and his family’s martial history. He tells of his father going off to fight in World War II, and his grandfather dying almost immediately after returning from his command in the Pacific.

"I was shot down over Vietnam and spent five years as a POW," McCain says in the ad. "Some of the friends I served with never came home."

You can watch McCain's ad HERE

The ad is notable for its direct engagement of McCain's war record, something the Arizona Republican and presumptive presidential nominee had been reluctant to use in a political way.

He also uses the ad to reject a notion held by some on the left that McCain is a warmonger.

"Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war..." McCain says in the ad. "I hate war, and I know how terrible its costs are."

It is the first major ad buy of the general election for McCain. A senior McCain advisor tells ABC News that McCain will have enough money to remain on the air consistently in swing states through November.

June 6, 2008 in Hunter, Duncan, Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (16)

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I like McSame. But I would sooner vote for a statue of Lennon than another Rebuclican after the Bush theocracy.

Posted by: john | Jun 6, 2008 1:20:52 PM

Americans do not neeed a military Commander in chief whose level of judgement is limited to declaring War on Iraq,

Posted by: Ngemason | Jun 6, 2008 1:23:10 PM

THAT MAN IS A PHONEY LIAR HES PATHETIC WELL I LIVE IN PA AND I CAN ASSURE YOU I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO MAKE SURE HE DONT WIN THIS STATE WE DONT NEED ANOTHER MURDERER AS PRESIDENT HIS FEAR MONGERING BUSH WAYS ARE NOT GONNA WORK THIS TIME DONT LET THEM USE FEAR ANYMORE WE BELIVED BUSH AND LOOK WHAT THAT DID!!!!!! THEY ARE ALL LIARS LIARS LIARS!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: angie | Jun 6, 2008 1:23:20 PM

You're always my hero.
Sen McCain-08

Posted by: Alex | Jun 6, 2008 1:25:32 PM

McCain is causing millions of Republicans to scratch their heads.

Whenever McCain gives a speech, you can tell he's having problems believing the words. For years, McCain opposed everything Bush represents. Around 2002, suddenly McCain flipped on all the issues even though he disagrees with them.

Now, McCain's trying to talk the talk, but he can't walk the walk.

Republicans everywhere are disheartened by McCain. His years of angering the party have not been forgotten.

Even worse, McCain's recent positions have now angered the Independents who once supported him.

Posted by: Dan | Jun 6, 2008 1:26:13 PM

Have to admit, it's a very good ad, one that really details the measure of a man. It's going to appeal to a lot of folks. McCains patriotism and armed service record speaks for itself. Obama can't touch this, can't spin it...if he did, he would lose thousands of votes. McCain is a true American war hero.

Posted by: david from texas | Jun 6, 2008 1:29:37 PM

Let McCain spend all his money now on advertisement...LOL!

Instead of spending money on advertisement, he really should be spending money on organizing a ground-game.

Obama has ground-game in 50 states and McCain does not.

Posted by: Stacey | Jun 6, 2008 1:34:45 PM

Sympathy for being a POW is not qualifications for president. If it was my brother or a number of bearded homeless should be elected.

Posted by: please | Jun 6, 2008 1:34:57 PM

I'm sorry but I have no trust for anything that comes from the McCain camp. That man McSame is George Bush in costume?? Forget old republican politics it is the wrong message no matter how they try to disguise it!

Posted by: Lou | Jun 6, 2008 1:40:21 PM

His ideas, attitudes and fears, reflect his age. His plans were formulated in an out of date Air Force Academy.
The current strategy for war is financial, not military.
Even the synicate knew that war and bloodshed profited nothing. We say we learn from history. He lived history and learned nothing.

Posted by: DAVID NH | Jun 6, 2008 1:53:07 PM

How, exactly, does it make us "Safe" to continue to beat a dead horse in Iraq while neglecting other volatility abroad and our own domestic problems?

Posted by: McLame | Jun 6, 2008 2:08:48 PM

yea im going to believe anything he says..
Senator John McCain took heat because of an interview that he granted two years ago to Amir Oren, a credible journalist from the Israeli newspaper HaAretz, on May 1, 2006, in which Mr. McCain declared that his administration “would send “the smartest guy I know” to the Middle East …. “Brent Scowcroft, or Jim Baker though I know that you in Israel don’t like Baker.”

Mr. McCain added “I would expect concessions and sacrifices by both sides.”

When Mr. Oren asked Mr. McCain if that meant a “movement toward the June 4, 1967 armistice lines, with minor modifications? McCain nodded in the affirmative.”

To deflect criticism that he has encountered on the 2008 campaign trail, the McCain campaign has been quoting an article by John B. Judis., senior editor at The New Republic who wrote in an article in that publication on October 25, 2006 that Mr. McCain was “miffed at his portrayal in HaAretz,” saying that “after reading the HaAretz article and subsequent report in The Jewish Press [in New York],” he felt the need to “clear up several serious misimpressions.” Mr. McCain said that “in contrast to the impression left by the HaAretz article, I’ve never held the position that Israel should return to 1967 lines, and that is not my position today.”

The senator repeated this week what he said to the New Republic which was that “in the course of that brief, off-the-cuff conversation, I never discussed settlement blocs, a total withdrawal, or anything of the sort.”

Reached at his desk in Tel Aviv, Mr. Oren told The Bulletin that Mr. McCain is simply “not telling the truth”, and that he would gladly invite him to a polygraph to see who is telling the truth. He said Mr. McCain indeed recommended Mr. Baker and Mr. Snowcroft as his potential candidates to deal with the Middle East, and that he clearly answered in the affirmative when it came to Mr. McCain’s expectations of Israel, and how it should relate to further withdrawals. Mr. Oren said that Mr. McCain stated clearly that Israel’s policy should be one of “defending itself and withdrawing, defending itself and withdrawing.”

Posted by: melissa | Jun 6, 2008 2:54:13 PM

Did I mention Michelle Obama gave a pre-election rant on November 4, 2006?

Posted by: geevill | Jun 6, 2008 3:43:33 PM

I didn't think that was a great ad. McCain looked stiff and uncomfortable and in the end it didn't really say anything we didn't know about the guy already. I do wonder if McCain is really charasmatic enough to carry this off, especially against such an engaginf opponent. I wonder that if once the polls break for Obama there will be anything McCain can do about it.

Posted by: markymark | Jun 6, 2008 6:43:24 PM

This election is all about show biz, folks! If you put out a candidate full of fluff and rhetoric, that will look good to a lot of people. You can orchestrate lofty generalities and settings to make people believe someone is Presidential. In the end, it is really about experience and substance.

John McCain has a family history and knowledge of what is required to keep the world safe. He has first hand knowledge of the horrors of war. Unlike the guy who defeated him in the Primaries in 2000, he does not need to strut around in a military flight jacket after landing on an aircraft carrier to say "mission accomplished."

John McCain is real, he has the experience in the Senate of working for change and compromise, and he is a straight talker, unlike that backpedaling other fellow.

Posted by: georgia | Jun 6, 2008 9:04:17 PM

This time we shall trounce the BO vipers. They shall be blown out and we shall give them losses in the electorate map. The BO strategy will not work and they can't cheat on one person one vote.

President McCain; Nobama 08.

We want to see the finish of BO vipers once and forever together with the party pundits like Pelosi, Dean, Jimmy Carter, Joe Andrew and Ted Kennedy. The undemocratic party shall meet its doom.

Posted by: John_Lai | Jun 7, 2008 2:11:57 PM

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