The McCain campaign is already out with its second Sarah Palin-related campaign ad, a 30-second spot designed to grab the mantle of change from Barack Obama but one that contains some overstated claims.
Titled "Original Mavericks," the ad states that Palin stopped the Bridge to Nowhere -- when, in fact, she favored the project before souring it when it became a national issue. The spot also says Palin "took on big oil," without mentioning that part of the confrontation with the oil industry included levying a windfall profits tax, a policy position that McCain and his advisers have criticized harshly at times.
On a more macro level, the new advertisement continues the McCain campaign's push the ticket's maverick image. While it once seemed far fetched that the Arizona Republican and his running mate could rip the anti-Washington position from Barack Obama's grasp, they clearly are trying and may end up successful -- the spot ends with the phrase: "Real Change."
The ad will air on national cable and in key states.
Here's the script:
The original mavericks.
He fights pork barrel spending.
She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere.
He took on the drug industry.
She took on big oil.
He battled Republicans and reformed Washington.
She battled Republicans and reformed Alaska.
They'll make history. They'll change Washington.
McCain. Palin.
Real change.
UPDATE: The Obama campaign comes back hard, calling the spot a "lie."
"Despite being discredited over and over again by numerous news organizations, the McCain campaign continues to repeat the lie that Sarah Palin stopped the Bridge to Nowhere. John McCain has voted with George Bush 90% of the time and he and Sarah Palin will continue Bush's economic policies, his health care policy, his education policy, his energy policy, and his foreign policy. McCain and Palin will say or do anything to make people believe that they will change something besides the person sitting in the Oval Office. That's the kind of politics people are tired of, and it's anything but change," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.