McCain’s First General Election Ad: I Hate War

John McCain released his first television ad of the general election today. In it, he says he hates war and is running for president to keep the U.S. safe.

The ad will begin running in battleground dates in the next couple days, McCain’s campaign told The Hill. It is McCain’s first television ad since Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination Tuesday night.

“Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war,” McCain says in the ad. “I hate war. And I know how terrible its costs are.”

McCain spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and his critics have been careful to say they respect his military service when attacking his support for the war in Iraq.

See the ad below: