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Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2008 > June > 09 > Entry
Eye on Ohio: “Safe” ad for John McCain
McCain ad talks about war and keeping our country safe.
THE AD: “Safe,” 30-seconds.
WHERE TO SEE IT: It began airing on Ohio television stations on Friday, June 6.
SCRIPT: John McCain speaking: “Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war. When I was 5 years old, my father left for war. My grandfather came home from war and died the next day. I was shot down over Vietnam and spent five years as a POW. Some of the friends I served with never came home. I hate war. And I know how terrible its costs are. I’m running for president to keep the country I love safe.
I’m John McCain, and I approve this message.”
VIDEO: Stark but more visually compelling than some earlier and more stylized McCain commercials, the spot features the candidate speaking directly to the camera against a black background, with the left side of his face in shadow, while somber string music plays. A series of black-and-white historical photos fade in around him, of his father, grandfather, the wreckage of a fighter plane and McCain as a prisoner of war.
Full-screen color footage follows of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial by night, with the floodlit Washington Monument in the background. Beneath it is the text, “Military images do not imply endorsement by DOD (Department of Defense) or service branch.”
It returns to McCain speaking and closes with a color still photo of him.
ANALYSIS: The first TV ad released since McCain knew with certainty who his Democratic opponent in November will be, it makes a personal pitch emphasizing his military and national security experience, an area in which he has claimed an advantage over Barack Obama. Focused on image and character, its stress on how much he knows about war and its costs works to counter hawkish impressions left by his support of the Iraq war.
Tom Feran is a reporter at The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. E-mail: tferan@plaind.com.
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