McCain camp debuts new ad with big buy

For its first real general election spot, John McCain's campaign is thinking big.

Published June 6, 2008 3:47PM (EDT)

John McCain isn't wasting any time. Now that the general election is really kicking off in earnest, his campaign has released his first big ad of the season, and it's doing a major buy with it.

The ad, which can be viewed below, is largely about war, but it's from an interesting angle. "Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war," McCain says. "I hate war. And I know how terrible its costs are. I'm running for president to keep the country I love safe." The campaign seems to be trying to position itself against the charge that McCain wants to spend 100 years in Iraq, or that supporting the war in Iraq means that he really likes it, not just that he thinks it's necessary. Plus, it's able to work in his experience as a POW this way as well.

The McCain campaign has apparently devoted a decent amount of money getting this ad out to voters in swing states. The New York Times reports that it has likely spent about $3 million to run the spot in Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania -- all sure to be key states this fall.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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2008 Elections John Mccain R-ariz.