Horserace
August 5, 2008 11:34 AM

In New Ad, McCain Dubbed "The Original Maverick"

The campaign of John McCain dubs the Arizona senator "the original maverick" in a new 30-second television ad out today, "Broken."

"Washington's broken," an announcer says as the spot opens with a black-and-white shot of the Capitol. "John McCain knows it. We're worse off than we were four years ago." As he says "we're worse off," a shot of a gas pump fills the screen.

"Only McCain has taken on big tobacco, drug companies, fought corruption in both parties," the announcer continues as the spot shifts to color and McCain is shown. "He'll reform Wall Street, battle Big Oil, make America prosper again."

"He's the original maverick," the announcer says. The words "The ORIGINAL MAVERICK" appear onscreen. The ad closes with the announcer saying, "One is ready to lead: McCain."

"Washington is broken," the phrase that opens the ad, became former McCain rival (and current potential running mate) Mitt Romney's catch phrase in the run-up to the New Hampshire primary. Romney was looking to make the case that it would take a Washington outsider like himself – not a "lifelong politician" like McCain – to fix Washington's problems. (Read more about that here.)

The McCain camp says the spot will air in "key states," though it does not specify where.

Watch it:



UPDATE: Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton responds to the spot: “Senator McCain wants Americans to forget that during the Republican primary, he said that Americans were better off than we were eight years ago, and that he thinks we’ve made ‘great progress economically.’ He wants us to forget that he’s fully embraced the Bush policies he once opposed, and bragged about supporting those policies ‘more than 90 percent of time.’ The truth is, being a maverick isn’t practicing the same kind of politics we have seen from Washington for decades, it isn’t having a campaign run by Washington lobbyists, and it’s certainly not promoting the same policies that have led America down the wrong path these past eight years."
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john mccain ,
broken ,
original maverick
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by luvienne August 6, 2008 7:10 PM EDT
He fits right in line with Bush. A want to be politician. Really just a DUD. Homer Simpson has a better grasp on what''s going on than Mccain.
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by abbe91 August 6, 2008 10:57 AM EDT

McCain shifts on energy policy ...
Wow, he is recycling ... Romney''s catch phrase.
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by dnsallday August 6, 2008 1:30 AM EDT
Self Described ''Original Maverick''
A womanizer, who cheats on his wife (always has, always will) with a serious gambling addiction.
How is that original. All that is, is a fraud!
Oh, I know his supporters know he is a dirty old man and they don''t care, but they would never have the courage to admit that this man is a a Zero! Zero integrity! Zero honor!
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by omega39-2009 August 5, 2008 6:54 PM EDT
He more resembles the Ford Maverick, you know those now old multi-colored cars you see driving around depressed neighborhoods while belching black smoke.
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by August 5, 2008 6:37 PM EDT
When the teenager stood before the judge to be sentenced for the cold blooded murder of his parents, he was asked "are there any extenuating circumstances you''d like to plead to persuade us to give you life imprisonment rather than lethal injection?" The teenager responded: "Your honor, I beg for your mercy on the grounds I am an orphan."
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by omded August 5, 2008 6:34 PM EDT
John McCain. Original member of the Keating Five. He should choose his criminal defense attorney as his running mate. Yeah, he''s a maverick alright...
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by condumbism August 5, 2008 6:29 PM EDT
Washingtoon is indeed broken and John McCain is one of the major reasons why it is broken. This McCain is a complete phoney.
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by sayfud-deen August 5, 2008 6:23 PM EDT
mc cain says alot in this ad except, how he is going to make these changes.it is just more political b.s.. also,i wish mc cain and the media would stop playing the race card. obama is not black! he is mixed! he will always be mixed! this is 2008 and some still insist on calling a person black if they have a drop of black blood in them. this is just ignorant. in fact obama is actually african and causcasian. be that as it may anyone who wants mc cain in office should have his or her head examined. mc cain will most assuredly be the straw that will break america''s back. but i think he will be elected because america is not ready for a "black" president. i pray that iam wrong.
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by tomanjeri August 5, 2008 5:56 PM EDT
What McCain and his media base calls "maverick" the rest of us see as pandering. The guy is a fraud.
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by kennedy7955 August 5, 2008 5:40 PM EDT
"I''''m a LOT better off now than I was 8 years ago. Our mortgage is paid down to almost nothing. Our income has increase drmatically, far exceeding inflation. We buy pretty much whatever we want to, and we''''re middle class."

You are better off, congratulations. Is the country better off? Are you happy that the US Govt under Bush has run the country from a $1 trill surplus to a $9 trill deficit? Will your kids be better off, or if you do not have kids - will future generations benefit from this President? And if this country goes into a depression, which is not out of the question by any means - will you be better off then? Look deeper into what this country needs than your own personal situation.
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by kissamaarse August 5, 2008 5:37 PM EDT
What a joke, JukeBox John a maverick. It is a myth. He has voted the Bush neo-con line at a rate higher than 90$ during Bush''s time as president. McShame never met a lie or a flip-flop he did not like, and the Double Talk Express is pathologically hypocritical.
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by kennedy7955 August 5, 2008 5:35 PM EDT
Yeah, the country is broken. McCain has been in power for over 30 years. He is the establishment and he is responsible, as much as anyone in our government for the deficit, war and every incompetency of the US government.

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by jimfinster August 5, 2008 5:26 PM EDT
This is pretty cynical, considering he has been part of the Washington establishment most of his adult life.

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by idnnsg August 5, 2008 5:24 PM EDT
vranger says, "I''m a LOT better off now than I was 8 years ago"

You may be "better off", but the COUNTRY is NOT.

One of the biggest LIES repugs like to spew is this "self-reliant" crappola. They like to think they are all "self-made winners" and that everyone who isn''t winning is either too lazy, or too stu.pid, or just too "liberal" to deal with economic realities. But the world DOES NOT work that way.

The last "great white hope" of the repug party, GW Bush, took the country from unprecedented surplus to unprecedented debt in just a few short years. He redistributed the wealth in this country from the many, gave it to the few, and he has destroyed this country''s infrastructure (transportation, jobs, healthcare, education, etc.) in the process. If we continue down this path, soon the many will be nothing more than slaves to the few. There will be no middle. So, if you haven''t yet risen to the level of multi-billion-dollar international corporation, and if Johnny McSame wins this election, you can just kiss whatever small gains you''ve made goodbye! It won''t matter one bit how good you think you are at managing your finances!
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by omega39-2009 August 5, 2008 5:22 PM EDT
Washington is broken alright and dinosaurs like John McCain are the reason why...
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by jcpok August 5, 2008 5:18 PM EDT
Vranger-

First, why is McCain contradicting what he said just a few months ago? During the primary, he indicated we are better off than we were 8 years ago. Now, he says were worse. Which is it? Why is he so confused? Is it possibly pandering?

Second, by almost any economic measure (real incomes, access to health care, net worth, savings rate, job creation/loss, etc.), the average American is significantly worse off now than they were when Bush took office. These are just facts based on empirical evidence. In fact, it is highly likely that Bush will be considered the worst President in terms of economic performance since Herbert Hoover.

Your post is more of an indication of your indifference to the people harmed by Bush''s disastrous economic policies than it is an indication of economic knowledge. As for the latter, it appears you have very little.
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by mattcat25 August 5, 2008 5:16 PM EDT
John McCain will be over SEVENTY FIVE YEARS OLD at the completion of the next Presidential term. It%u2019s highly unlikely a man with his advanced age will be able to be an effective leader for much of this term. The demands of the Senate aren%u2019t measurable to what he might face as the President. McCain may seem (at times) during this election to be in control of his faculties but, this will diminish over the next couple of grueling years if he were to be elected as President.

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by idnnsg August 5, 2008 5:11 PM EDT
Read what k2345 Posted at 01:28 PM : Aug 05, 2008

He makes is abundantly clear that the GOP REALLY had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get a candidate as thoroughly UNQUALIFIED as McCain!
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by vranger August 5, 2008 5:02 PM EDT
jcpok,

I''m a LOT better off now than I was 8 years ago. Our mortgage is paid down to almost nothing. Our income has increase drmatically, far exceeding inflation. We buy pretty much whatever we want to, and we''re middle class.

We don''t mismanage our budget so close to the line that a spike in gas prices causes calamity, and we don''t get our politics from the lies (and likes) of Michael Moore (guess what, he''s in it for the MONEY, and he makes it by leading the ignorant down the garden path - Moore Tools, we call you LOL).

If you can''t hack it, get back to blaming the source, yourself, rather than any convenient target the bandwagon happens upon.

2.6% of borrowers may face foreclosure (that''s higher than the percentage that IS in foreclosure). The other 97.4% of us who know how to figure out a payment and a budget are doing just fine, thank you.
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by jcpok August 5, 2008 5:02 PM EDT
Why is it that CBS posts and freely distributes nearly every one of "Free Pass" McCain''s ads?

This is really becoming a blatant and egregious example of the extraordinarily special treatment being afforded McCain by the media.
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