Dole campaign ad ditches French plane footage

Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) might have played a role in saving military bases in North Carolina, but her campaign ads for a time had a distinctly French feel.

Dole’s campaign has released at least two versions of its second television ad. The first features a brief shot of a military airplane flying directly overhead, while the second replaces the shot with a different plane flying across the sky.

{mosads}Turns out the first plane was a French-built Dassault Super Etendard, according to Damian Kemp, the Aviation Desk Editor at Jane’s, which publishes a well-known aviation reference book.

Dole’s campaign didn’t announce the change, but it was noted last week by the liberal Senate Guru blog.

Asked about the switch, Dole spokesman Hogan Gidley said: “Basically, our media consultant used the wrong stock footage, but it was corrected.” He could not say why the footage was the wrong footage.

The campaign of Dole’s Democratic opponent, state Sen. Kay Hagan, said Monday that the mix-up shows how out of touch Dole is.

“It’s no surprise that Elizabeth Dole would mistake a French aircraft for an American one stationed at a base in North Carolina,” said spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan. “It’s pretty indicative of the amount of time she spends here in North Carolina. I imagine she’s celebrating Bastille Day today, as well.”

It’s not the first time this cycle a Senate candidate has made a shoddy choice with stock footage.

Earlier this year, former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.) had to replace a picture of Alaskan mountains in a commercial emphasizing his close ties to Colorado.