Ad in RealVideo

Candidate: John McCain

Market: South Carolina

Producer: Stevens Reed Curcio

Time: 30 seconds

Audio: [NARRATOR:] This is George Bush's ad promising America he'd run a positive campaign. [BUSH:] A campaign that is hopeful and optimistic and very positive. [NARRATOR:] This is George Bush shaking hands with John McCain, promising not to run a negative campaign. This is George Bush's new negative ad, attacking John McCain and distorting his position. Do we really want another politician in the White House America can't trust?

Analysis: While decrying negative campaigning, this ad contains the harshest charge any presidential candidate in either party has hurled against a rival this season. McCain shows the Bush ad that triggered the counterattack, and it contains some misrepresentations. The Bush spot says McCain's proposed tax cut is smaller than President Clinton's -- despite Bush's arithmetic, it isn't -- and quotes McCain adviser Vin Weber as saying he'd support Bush's plan, which Weber has called a serious distortion. But while Bush criticized the Arizona senator on policy, McCain's ad attacks him personally, likening Bush's trustworthiness to that of Clinton as the White House looms in the background. In a second commercial yesterday, McCain says that Bush's ad "twists the truth like Clinton." McCain also seems to be abandoning the handshake agreement not to turn negative.