McCain's Web ads
Posted: Friday, January 18, 2008 10:39 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
2008, McCain, Ads
From NBC's Bethany Thomas
COLUMBIA, SC -- Yesterday, the McCain campaign pulled one of its tried and true tricks out of the bag -- another Web ad. It was a response to the rumblings of down and dirty South Carolina politics involving accusations of McCain betraying fellow POWs in Vietnam. The ad, entitled “Character in Spades”, features fellow POWs Colonel Bud Day and Lt. Colonel Orson Swindle talking about his courage and character.
The campaign has a history of using the free Internet to respond to negative attacks, whether they be from Romney or groups like the latest thorn, “Vietnam Veterans Against McCain."
“Instead of spending resources rebutting the charge on TV, sometimes it’s good to throw up a Web ad and go on offense,” explained senior adviser for the McCain campaign Mark Salter.
In last couple of years, Web have become a relatively new tool as the campaigns try to compete with each other in cyberspace. When McCain was desperately struggling for money last fall, it was as much a survival resort as an attempt to reach the younger voters who might browse the Web site.
The ads are cheap to produce and free to post on the Internet. Staffers say the multimedia section on www.johnmccain.com is very popular and they get a lot of hits -- not only for the ads, but also of video clips and photos from various campaign stops around the country.
They are also linked to YouTube with the hopes of some picking up mainstream popularity like the ad last fall that featured McCain quipping in a debate that he was “tied up” during Woodstock.
But now, as the campaign’s fundraising a bit healthier than it has been in months past, the Web ads still continue to go up. Why? For one, they get good free publicity from the media.
When McCain’s team touted McCain’s foreign policy experience earlier this month by posting a graphic 30-second video of images of car bombings, a body being dragged through a street, and masked men, reporters ran with it. The traveling press corps eagerly waited for the senator to come downstairs from his hotel room in New Hampshire to talk about the ad.
“With the Web ad today about those ridiculous attacks about John as a POW -- we don’t want the candidate to have to address that, we would rather have him stay on his message,” Salter said. “So, we do a Web ad and the press will cover it and people will see it online and then we push on.
Second, the Internet provides the luxury of time. “You’re not going to put a two-minute ad on television. You’re going to put up 30 seconds, and maybe in rare occasions you’re going to put a 60 (second) up,” said Salter.
So, where’s the fundraising money really going? Stay tuned to the television sets in South Carolina over the next few days. “We’ve got a great closing ad and really want eyes to see that.”
*** UPDATE *** And speaking of ... here is the latest McCain Web ad.
