Looking to capitalize on his surging poll numbers in the Granite State, Sen. McCain went back on the air today with these two ads:
“Live Free”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es5YXipKyBU[/youtube]
“One Man”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywXFhulpVPk[/youtube]
Ann Marie Cox of Time’s “Swampland” blog has more on the ads:
One of the ads (“One Man”) includes some seldom-seen (outside of “bio reels”) footage of McCain being interviewed as a POW. The images of the young pilot choking up as he’s asked to describe his crash and his injuries — they take up fully half of the ad — stand in stark contrast to, say, other candidates’ spots. This is not unintentional.
I asked about the decision to use the unusually harrowing clip — reportedly, McCain himself is uncomfortable with it — and senior aide Mark Salter took an unusually direct swipe at Mitt Romney, “I don’t know, I guess we could have gone with the first time he waterskiied past the sandbar but we thought this might say a little more about his character and love of country.”
September 27th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
I thought Salter was gone?
September 27th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
“One Man” is a great ad.
September 27th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
These are both freakin’ awesome ads! Hat’s off to whoever is responsible for them.
September 27th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Voice-over: “New Hampshire, you know who he is…”
JM: “Live free or die!“
Chills down the spine… Freakin’ awesome ad!
September 27th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
This is Team McCain’s hail mary.
They’re barely raising enough money this quarter to offset their previous debts. Yet spending a ton on these two ads. Total hail mary.
And given the quality of these ads, that hail mary just may work!
Damn.
September 27th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
If anything, this is a great tribute to John McCain and a great reminder of how good he would be as the secretary of defense. Unfortunately for McCain, there is more to politics than the Iraq war.
September 27th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Great ads! I love “New Hampshire, you know who he is.” Nostalgia. Good job, Team McCain!
September 27th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
McCain’s campaign is quite interesting. McCain’s support goes to Rudy, as numerous polls have shown. Therefore, any gains McCain makes are disproportionately likely to….
September 27th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Trust me, Matt, we know. That’s why as I much as I like these ads, I hate them at the same time. Hah.
September 27th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
And hence my last word in #5.
September 27th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Kavon: ‘These are both freakin’ awesome ads! ‘
Awesome ads for an awesome candidate and a genuine American hero. It will grieve me to see him lose.
September 27th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Well, I can’t wait to get home so I can view the ads.
September 27th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
6, you mean GOOD think for McCain there is more to politics than the iraq war.
no one has fought harder to slow pork barrel spending than mccain.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
matt,
why cant you view them?
They’re here too: http://www.johnmccain.com/tvads/
September 27th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
sampo: ’6, you mean GOOD think for McCain there is more to politics than the iraq war.
no one has fought harder to slow pork barrel spending than mccain.’
Senators Tom Coburn and Jim Demint, both somewhat kooky, have. And McCain voted against stripping the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ from the highway bill.
But I don’t blame him, because standing on principle at that moment would have seriously undermined the support he could get from his fellow Senators for his presidential campaign.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Matt,
Any tech problems with R4’08?
September 27th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Sampo,
Immigration, fundraising, freedom of speech, and debates matter also in politics. McCain has tried hard, but he is, in my opinion, not consistantly top teir in those areas. I think he would make a great president, but I don’t think he makes a good politician. He lacks the skills that matter in winning the presidency, but has the skills to be a great president. Unfortunately for McCain, he needs both. Even if he does have both sets of skills, he has not effectly shown people that on a consistant basis. He MUST win back NH in order to survive. This video may help, but he needs more than survival, he needs to win, and for him to win is a near impossibility. I like McCain a lot, as many of you do that are blogging here, but I am being a realist, and he is in trouble.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
One man sacrificed his campaign staff.
One man opposed Bush’s tax cuts.
One man had the courage to stand up to the gun lobby.
One man didn’t play politics with immigration.
One man stands up against freedom of speech in politics.
One man does what he thinks is right, John McCain.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Kavon,
Oh no. I’m just at work at the moment. And I’m working for the government. Apparently they block access to videos.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
15,
Tom Coburn and Jim Demint, have the same CAGW rating as McCain 95%. No one is rated higher.
I don’t know where you’ve getting your stats from but McCain was VERY vocal about the bridge to nowhere. (see second 26 in “one man”). but as with the last bill that funded iraq, sometimes cannot be removed.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
I wouldn’t be too disappointed if McCain were to make a comeback, particularly in New Hampshire. He is my 2nd choice after Rudy anyways
September 27th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Sampo: Coburn Amendment to remove the Alaska Bridge to Nowhere http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00262
September 27th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
“one man” was much better than the first one. Good ad. I was a little uncomfortable with him showing his time as a pow in a political ad, but it was effective and it makes his points powerfully.
mccain has no chance. really, his time has past. So he surges in nh a little bit. he won’t win it and if that is all he has, it won’t be enough.
September 27th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
and yes, i think most would agree, that although not perfect, nobody is, mccain is no ‘big’ spender. he is fiscally conservative.
September 27th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
awakened 22,
he didnt vote on it. and it was so lopsided it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
September 27th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Love the second ad, but that’s as far as I would go with the POW angle. Use it a lot, but don’t make multiple commercials focusing on the same thing. Before you know it, they’ll be having him reenact the final scene from “The Deer Hunter.”
The first one reminds me of something Keanu Reeves would say in “Point Break.”
September 27th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
i agree. didn’t like the first one and the pow thing mccain has going for him seems to be demeaned when you put it in a political ad.
September 27th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
sampo: ‘he didnt vote on it. and it was so lopsided it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.’
You’re right. My bad, I looked at the YEAs and didn’t see his name.
John Galt: ‘and yes, i think most would agree, that although not perfect, nobody is, mccain is no ‘big’ spender. he is fiscally conservative.’
Compared to who? George Bush makes Bill Clinton look like Barry Goldwater.
September 27th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
New Hampshire is deffinately going to be close – at least for the next couple months. McCain had an unusually strong debate performance earlier this month, and that has deffinately helped him. Actually, I would not be overly surprised if Romney temporarily lost his lead (for a couple weeks or so) in that state. He has been putting a big focus on fundraising over the last couple weeks, and with him temporarily sidelined, I don’t expect to see him with a significant bounce for a little while.
September 27th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
29, romney takes a HUGE hit end of september when he’s forced to disclose the unholy amount of money he’s spent on his campaign –especially if he continues to proclaim himself the “free of special interests” candidate. what a joke.
September 27th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
sampo, is that your honest prediction? You really think he’ll take a hit when candidates disclose their money raised or spent?
September 27th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
the money LENT. yes. he’s already let 9m. i woudlnt be surprised to see that number double.
September 27th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
No sampo, I mean the part about you saying he’s going to take a HUGE hit.
September 27th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
“the money LENT. yes. he’s already let 9m. i woudlnt be surprised to see that number double.”
You are talking through your heart, not your brain, Sampo. You want Romney to fail, so you say he will. There are no facts to back up what you are saying.
September 27th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
yes. he’s already fallen to 25 from 33 a month ago. combine that with a hit again at the end of the month and he’s got some big problems. but it’s speculation at this point.
September 27th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
“yes. he’s already fallen to 25 from 33 a month ago. combine that with a hit again at the end of the month and he’s got some big problems. but it’s speculation at this point.”
he is deffinately going to have to work to re-build his lead in NH, but I think he will do it.
September 27th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
[...] the same day that Sen. McCain ran his first two TV ads in New Hampshire (as Kavon graciously posted below), he takes to the pages of the National Review to lay out his comprehensive energy policy. [...]
September 27th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
[...] the same day that Sen. McCain ran his first two TV ads in New Hampshire (as Kavon graciously posted below), he takes to the pages of the National Review to lay out his comprehensive energy policy. [...]
September 28th, 2007 at 12:03 am
I just watched ‘em and I have to admit those are great ads. McCain has a great biography which resonates. This thing is going to be a horse race!
September 28th, 2007 at 9:58 am
The funny part about his 1st commercial is that one of the biggest reasons we don’t trust Washington, and don’t believe their out for our best interests, is because of his amnesty bill.