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McCain launches first general-election ads

While the Democrats decide how to end their presidential nomination fight, Republican nominee John McCain is launching his general campaign. The first milestone: Running general-election TV ads.

McCain's spot -- which is slated for an ad buy in New Mexico, according to TPM Election Central -- is your standard gauzy, soft-focus affair, narrated by a fellow with a deep voice and amusingly old-fashioned diction (he says of America, "she is worth protecting"). The ad plays up McCain's prisoner-of-war days, ending with a black-and-white clip of him being interrogated by the North Vietnamese.

The ad concludes with a curious new slogan: "John McCain: The American president Americans have been waiting for."

One guesses this was a second choice; the obvious first choice -- "John 'America' McCain: The American president Americans have been waiting for, in America" -- was likely judged too long.

Posted in: 2008 Election, John McCain

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’08 Update

19:00 EDT, July 23, 2008
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Who'll be the Republicans' Obama now?
Bobby Jindal, who'd been discussed as a potential running mate for John McCain, says he doesn't want to be nominated for the vice presidency.
More bad news for McCain on Iraq
A new poll shows Americans favor a timeline for withdrawal, which McCain's campaign has argued against.
Republicans lose a major financial backer
T. Boone Pickens, who gave millions to support the Swift Boat Veterans, among other GOP causes, is now focusing on energy independence instead.
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