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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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