http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/05/...n.ap/index.htmlBush campaign has TV ad in the works featuring McCain
Senator had rejected overture from Kerry
Monday, July 5, 2004 Posted: 5:33 PM EDT (2133 GMT)
FOX CHAPEL, Pennsylvania (AP) -- President Bush's re-election campaign has a television ad in the works featuring former Republican rival John McCain and advisers are weighing whether to air it when Democrat John Kerry announces his vice presidential pick.
McCain, the Arizona senator who rejected Kerry's overtures to be No. 2 on the Democratic ticket, campaigned with Bush in Fort Lewis, Washington, last month. Bush's admakers filmed the appearance and the footage is being included in an ad, according to GOP sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans remain incomplete.
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt would neither confirm nor deny that the ad, which is unfinished, is being cut.
The Bush campaign has not run ads for more than two weeks in local media markets in 20 battleground states where it had been on the air. It had spent $83 million on advertising over three months.
Last month, McCain -- Bush's rival for the GOP presidential nomination in 2000 -- rejected the notion of a bipartisan ticket with Kerry, and shortly thereafter appeared on the campaign trail with Bush.
Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, spent Monday hosting an annual barbecue at their 90-acre suburban Pennsylvania farm as speculation increased about his vice presidential running mate.
About 250 to 300 invited guests from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, three crucial battleground states, gathered on the couple's estate nine miles north of Pittsburgh.
Kerry is expected to name a No. 2 for the party ticket before the Democratic National Convention opens in Boston on July 26, and an announcement could come as early as this week.
The Bush-Cheney campaign also sought to lower expectations about the impact of Kerry's selection of a running mate and the effect on public polls.
In an e-mail sent Monday, Matthew Dowd, Bush's chief strategist, predicted that the race will "swing wildly" in Kerry's favor within a month.
Dowd's memo included a chart showing that the challenger typically has gained a 15-point bounce in polls when the running mate is announced and the spotlight of the convention shines on the nominee.
These two developments "can have a dramatic (if often short-lived) effect on the head-to-head poll numbers," Dowd wrote. "In fact, historical analysis suggests John Kerry should have a lead of more than 15 points coming out of his convention."
Dowd did not say in his memo what factors might help Bush close the gap, or when that might happen.