The commercial John McCain NEEDS to run

Here’s the political ad that John McCain SHOULD run. Forget about a measly 30-second ad-buy; purchase a FIVE-MINUTE BLOCK in PRIME TIME and run with this:

SETTING: John McCain, sitting alone in a room with an American flag, a few family photos, and some eye-catching awards and military medals. Maybe throw in a few Bibles and crucifixes, to appease the evangelicals.

JOHN MCCAIN: Greetings. I’m Senator John McCain, candidate for the highest office in the land – the President of the United States of America. Either myself or my opponent, Senator Barack Obama, will be responsible for leading the U.S. military to victory in no less than two global wars; managing the largest economic recovery plan in world history; preventing our nation from ever being attacked again by Islamic terrorists; ensuring that rogue nations like Iran will never gain access to nuclear weapons; rebuilding the housing market; creating new, high-paying jobs; providing accessible medical care to all Americans; smashing through the corruption and cronyism that’s run rampant in Wall Street and Washington; and once and for all, for actually implementing an energy plan that will finally produce enough oil, nuclear, coal, and alternative sources of energy for our nation to be freed of its Middle East oil dependency. It’s an incredible challenge – perhaps the greatest challenge America has faced since the unspeakable horrors of World War II. But as God is my witness, I fully believe that my life experiences have uniquely provided me with the wisdom, dedication, and legislative knowhow to meet each and every one of these challenges. I also believe that my opponent is better suited to talking about these challenges than actually overcoming them.

With all the political finger pointing going on, some straight talk is long overdue. Most of you know my life story by now: I was born to a military family, where patriotism, honor and a solemn oath to serve this nation was instilled in me at an early age. I was something of a wild child as a young man; sure, I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and won medals for bravery, but I was an unserious man – vain, full of bravado, and I honestly didn’t believe I had any limitations. The younger version of me probably had a lot in common with my opponent. [SMILE]

But that all changed when my plane was shot down over Vietnam. I was beaten, brutalized and horrifically tortured… but when the Vietnamese discovered that my father was a famous Admiral, they offered me early release because they felt it would be of propaganda value to our enemies, and help demoralize the American war effort. I refused to leave captivity until every last P.O.W. captured before me was also released, because that was the military code of conduct I swore to uphold. Angered, the Vietnamese spent the next five years brutalizing me daily. Some of my war wounds are permanent; you may recall that my opponent mocked me for not regularly using a personal computer. What he didn’t tell you is that my shoulders were ripped from alignment through systematic torture from jailors in that prison, rendering it very difficult for me to sit before a computer keyboard and type. I felt that my opponent’s criticism was a political cheap shot, but such is par in modern day politics, where cheap shots are camouflaged by ambiguous platitudes like “hope” and “change.”

My shoulders might be permanently damaged, but my mind emerged completely unscathed. My courage was dramatically strengthened by the indelible images of my fellow countrymen, all P.O.W.s as well, sacrificing their very life so others may live. Far too many of those brave young men never made it back home, but their vision of America never once dimmed. And my love of country grew exponentially, until it was only surpassed by my love of God. I was completely stripped of my arrogance, vanity, and that youthful belief that I was somehow superior to everyone else. As penance, I chose to dedicate myself to honoring the sacrifices of my Band of Brothers – that Legion of Heroes – and do everything in my power to help the United States of America live up to her ideals of liberty for all her children at home… and always remain a Beacon of Hope for all humanity.

My war experiences alone don’t qualify me to be President, but they do give you a glimpse of my values, faith, and the code of honor I hope to bring back to the White House. And perhaps it gives you a glimpse of my soul. What does qualify me to be President is my unique understanding of the military; my intimate knowledge of global affairs in this particularly dangerous age; my unrivaled ability to reach across party lines and pass important legislation; my willingness to sacrifice personal credit and political ambition to save America’s economy; and my unwavering commitment to find, prosecute, and jail the criminals who enriched themselves on crooked financial deals while the rest of their countrymen suffered.

On the other hand, my opponent is a marvelous talker – and that’s not a criticism, that’s a compliment. The way he talks, he could sell snow cones to an Eskimo! But I’ve learned in life that there’s a big difference between talking and doing; that there are advantages to experience and humility; and most importantly, few things are more dangerous than a man whose ego is such that he actually admits in interviews that he never second guesses himself.

Senator Obama served a total of 143 days in session for the U.S. Senate before running for President. In the primaries, he ran as a far-left liberal, criticizing Hillary Clinton of all people for being too conservative! Now, he’s claiming he’s not actually a liberal – but an experienced, battle-tested moderate. He said that the surge wouldn’t work in Iraq and wanted to cut and run when things were tough – and now he claims that “everyone” was “surprised” that we’re succeeding. He never once defied his own party on any important legislation and believes everything is always the fault of Republicans – and yet he’s running as someone who can unite both parties. He blames everyone but himself for the housing crisis – and refuses to explain why the crooks who sabotaged the housing market gave him more money than anyone else on Capitol Hill during his brief tenure in the Senate. During this terrible economy he says he’ll only raise taxes on small businesses that make $250K a year – and doesn’t seem to understand that small businesses actually need to retain money before they can employ half-a-dozen people and provide good paying jobs. He then pledges to cut the federal taxes for 95% of Americans – even though only 40% of Americans pay federal taxes in the first place. My friends, even the corrupt big-spenders who wrecked Fannie Mae couldn’t make Obama’s budget work without exploding the deficit right through the stratosphere – which is ironic, since the CEO who ruined Fannie Mae is one of his chief advisors.

The bottom line is that there’s absolutely nothing in Senator Obama’s brief history that indicates he’ll be anything but an inexperienced, far-left President who’ll raise taxes, blowout the deficit, shackle the economy, underestimate our enemies, and take his marching orders directly from the far-left leaders of the Democrat Party, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

As for me, even my harshest critics admit that I’m my own man – a man who swears on his life to always do what’s best for his country… even when it’s against my own personal or political interests.

But he can talk better than me. And his shoulders move better than mine. But I’ll work harder for him. And I solemnly swear to you on my God-given word of honor, I’ll provide real change that produces real results – and America will emerge safer, stronger, more prosperous, and freed from this senseless corruption. We’re facing real challenges in a dangerous world that cannot simply be talked away, and I’m ready to lead – not with my mouth, but with all the powers at my disposal as President of the United States of America.

I’m John McCain, and I fully support this message.

-JKD