John 'Wayne' McCain's new ad: 'Never surrender'

by Frank James

In a state like South Carolina, which loves its "Fighting Gamecocks" and has a large population of retired veterans, a presidential candidate who, as a young man, was fierce and tough and called by some "McNasty" and others John "Wayne" McCain is probably going to have some appeal.

It's that indomitable McCain that his campaign is trying to pitch in a new ad titled "Never Surrender" going up in South Carolina.

The ad features the increasingly famous black-and-white film footage of McCain as a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war, on the campaign trail, walking with President Ronald Reagan and McCain at the podium during the 2004 Republican National Convention.

That last is clearly the McCain campaign's way of getting Repubicans and independents to envision this scene: McCain standing at the podium as his party's presidential nominee during the 2008 convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The ad could easily be called "One Man" since its theme is that McCain is the only one of the Republican candidates personally tested by one war (Vietnam) who had the guts to criticize the Bush Administration's management of another, Iraq, when that wasn't a popular stance among Republicans.

Here's the text of the ad:

ANNOUNCER: "One man sacrificed for his country.

"One man opposed a flawed strategy in Iraq.

"One man had the courage to call for change.

"One man didn't play politics with the truth.

"One man stands up to the special interests."

JOHN MCCAIN: "Stand up. We're Americans, we're Americans and we'll never surrender, they will."

ANNOUNCER: "One man does what's right, not what's easy. John McCain."

JOHN MCCAIN: "I'm John McCain and I approve this message."