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Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008
Jul 5, 2004 | President Bush's re-election campaign has a television ad in the works featuring former Republican rival John McCain and advisers are weighing whether to air it when Democrat John Kerry announces his vice presidential pick.
McCain, the Arizona senator who rejected Kerry's overtures to be No. 2 on the Democratic ticket, campaigned with Bush in Fort Lewis, Wash., and Reno, Nev., last month. Bush's admakers filmed the appearance and the footage is being included in an ad, according to GOP sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans remain incomplete.
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt would neither confirm nor deny that the ad is being cut.
But Rick Davis, a McCain adviser, said the senator gave permission for Bush's campaign to use footage of the joint appearance in an ad.
"They haven't given us details on exactly what's in it other than to say they plan to do an ad, and they plan to feature Bush and McCain campaigning together that day," Davis said. "We said 'Sure. It's OK with us.' John's glad to do it."
Chad Clanton, a Kerry campaign spokesman, said: "No ad can change the fact that under George W. Bush we've lost 1.8 million jobs, health care costs are up 49 percent and our military is overextended. The American people believe we can do better, and so does John Kerry."
In May, Kerry ran a biographical ad that showed a picture of himself with a hand on McCain's shoulder, as the two walked away from the camera. The ad said: "He joined with John McCain to find the truth about POWs and MIAs in Vietnam."
The Bush campaign has not run ads for more than two weeks in local media markets in 20 battleground states where it had been on the air. It's been off the air on national cable channels for more than a week. The campaign spent $83 million on advertising over three months. As of Friday, it had not yet bought airtime for July.
Last month, McCain -- Bush's rival for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000 -- rejected the notion of a bipartisan ticket with Kerry, and shortly thereafter appeared with Bush.
Kerry and McCain, fellow senators and Vietnam veterans, became close when they worked together to help President Clinton normalize relations with Vietnam. On the other hand, McCain has had a cool relationship with Bush, and the 2000 campaign was so bitter that it left wounds some believe may never heal.
Since Kerry secured the nomination in early March, McCain has praised him as "a good and decent man." McCain also defended Kerry when the White House accused the Democrat of being weak on defense.
Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, spent Monday hosting an annual barbecue at their 90-acre suburban Pennsylvania farm as speculation increased about his vice presidential running mate.
"I've made no decision at this point in time, and I'm going to continue to keep it a private and personal process until I announce it publicly," Kerry told WTAE, an ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh.
About 250 to 300 invited guests from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, three crucial battleground states, gathered on the couple's estate nine miles north of Pittsburgh.
Kerry is expected to name a No. 2 for the party ticket before the Democratic National Convention opens in Boston on July 26, and an announcement could come as early as this week.
The Bush-Cheney campaign also sought to lower expectations about the impact of Kerry's selection of a running mate and the effect on public polls.
In an e-mail sent Monday, Matthew Dowd, Bush's chief strategist, predicted that the race will "swing wildly" in Kerry's favor within a month.
Dowd's memo included a chart showing that the challenger typically has gained a 15-point bounce in polls when the running mate is announced and the spotlight of the convention shines on the nominee.
These two developments "can have a dramatic (if often short-lived) effect on the head-to-head poll numbers," Dowd wrote. "In fact, historical analysis suggests John Kerry should have a lead of more than 15 points coming out of his convention."
Dowd did not say in his memo what factors might help Bush close the gap, or when that might happen. ------ Associated Press Writer Scott Lindlaw in Washington contributed to this report.
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