Anti-McCain ad a ‘nightmare’

ST. PAUL — An independent ad featuring a fellow prisoner of war questioning John McCain’s ability to be president is a “nightmare” for Barack Obama, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) said Wednesday.

In the ad, Philip Butler says he would not like to see McCain in the White House because of the POW experience and the Arizona senator’s temperament.

{mosads}Butler served alongside Sen. McCain (Ariz.) at the U.S. Naval Academy and later was imprisoned alongside the presumptive GOP nominee in Vietnam.

“I think I can say with authority that the prisoner-of-war experience is not a good prerequisite for president of the United States,” Butler says in the ad, which was produced by Brave New PAC, a political action committee associated with the liberal film company Brave New Films.

Brave New Films has no affiliation with the Democratic presidential candidate or his campaign. Neither presidential campaign responded to requests for comments.

Santorum, who was among the leading social conservatives when he served in the Senate, called the ad “disrespectful.”

“I think it is scandalous and disrespectful to a man who has obviously sacrificed greatly for his country,” he said, adding that it is Sen. Obama’s (Ill.) “nightmare that some crazy group suggests that because someone served his country and sacrificed for his country, that he is not capable to lead.”

Santorum suggested the ad is “so outrageous that Barack Obama should be pleading for these people to take it off the air.”

The ad buy is reminiscent of the 2004 election, when a group of soldiers, who had served with then-Democratic nominee John Kerry in Vietnam, appeared in ads slamming the Massachusetts senator. Kerry’s slow response to the attacks is widely seen as one of the reasons he lost the race. Butler was an outspoken supporter of the Democrat in 2004.

However, Butler told The Hill that he believes the circumstances are different.

“The Swift Boaters tried to demean John Kerry’s service,” Butler stated. “You don’t hear me doing this to John McCain. I’m not talking about his service, I’m talking about the man.”

He stressed that he holds “no grudge” against the Arizona senator.

“I like John,” Butler said, adding that he has “great respect” for him.

Leighton Woodhouse, a spokesman for Brave New Films, said the 30-second ad will air on CNN, MSNBC and ESPN from Thursday through the weekend.

Obama and his Democratic surrogates have repeatedly raised questions about McCain’s temperament, but they have praised his war record.

Butler said he supports the Democrat but has not been in touch with the campaign. He added that he would not agree to have the ad pulled even if the Obama campaign asked Brave New Films to do so.

{mospagebreak}Woodhouse argued that comparisons to the Swift Boat campaign are “totally irresponsible,” adding that they are “completely different situations.”

Butler, who was imprisoned in Vietnam for eight years, appears to be the only former POW so far to have publicly criticized McCain, and it remains to be seen if his attack will pick up steam.

“He was well-known as a very volatile guy and he would blow up and go off like a Roman candle,” Butler says in the ad, adding that McCain is not somebody he wants to see “with his finger near the red button.”

{mosads}He told The Hill that he does not know if other former POWs will step forward and also question whether McCain’s temperament and POW experience make him a good candidate.

He said that when he wrote an article critical of the GOP candidate, he “caught a lot of flak” from other former POWs but also received some words of encouragement.

The Arizona senator’s POW experience has been a noticeable part of his campaign, such as in campaign ads, speeches and as a response to the gaffe when McCain said he did not know how many houses he owned.

Some Democrats have criticized the presumptive GOP nominee’s use of his time as POW, with former President Jimmy Carter saying recently that McCain was “milking” the issue.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) suggested that the release of the ad is an act of desperation.

“On the one hand, that is encouraging, but on the other hand that is pretty disgusting,” DeLay argued.

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said the ad is an issue of free speech.

“So I say: ‘Let it roll and let the people decide,’ ” he stated.

Liberal radio talk show host Ed Schultz said that Republicans who reject the ad “only have themselves to blame.”

“They set the bar so low” with the Swift Boat ads in 2004 that they cannot be surprised that liberals, who “really want to win this year,” resort to the same tactic, Schultz stated, adding that McCain’s temperament is an issue that is not out of bounds.

Like Hastert, the talk show host also pointed to freedom of speech. He noted, however, that while the group has the right to air the ad, “it remains to be seen” how the Obama campaign will feel about it and whether it would be in their interest to ask the group to pull the spot.