Candidate: John McCain

Markets: California, New York, Washington, D.C., Ohio, Washington state

Producer: Stevens Reed Curcio

Audio: [MCCAIN:] You can't turn on your TV without seeing an ad from the establishment trying to fool you about me. Here's some straight talk. I'm a proud Reagan Republican. I'll tear up the 44,000-page tax code that benefits special interests. Stop the outrageous waste and pork-barrel spending that steals your money. Use the surplus to secure Social Security, cut middle-class taxes and pay down the debt. Give me your vote and we'll give you back your government.

Analysis: This ad is part of McCain's effort to strengthen his poor showing among registered Republicans by playing up his conservative credentials. But the Arizona senator has no proposal to back up his claim that he would tear up the tax code. Aides say McCain's push for campaign finance reform would weaken the ability of lobbying groups to win loopholes, but that would do nothing about existing tax breaks. McCain has targeted some tax breaks, but a spokesman says he would merely study others because there is "no way to list them all in a campaign." While McCain would flatten the code by extending the 15 percent tax rate to married couples earning $70,000, his proposals hardly amount to ripping up the tax code.