Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.

"Safer, Stronger"
30-second ad run starting March 4, 2004 on national cable television and selected local affiliates.

Maverick Media
 
 
 

 

 President Bush:  I'm George W. Bush and I approve this message. 

[Music.  Ad has no narration, but a variety of sound low in the background.]

Bush being sworn in; flag waving graphic on the right side of the screen.
CG: January 2001: The challenge:  (Audio, low: "I George W. Bush do solemnly swear..."

Market numbers flash by.
CG: An economy in recession.  (Audio, low: kind of an electronic hiss)

Market numbers and a man's face.
CG: A stock market in decline.  (Audio, low: people buzz)

Keyboard and website address being typed in.
CG: A dot com boom....gone bust.   (Audio, low: keyboard tapping)

Text only, white on black.
CG: Then...A day of tragedy. 

Flag waving against World Trade Center wreckage; briefly, firefighters carrying flag draped coffin at Ground Zero; blend with man raising flag; blend in President Bush.
CG: A test for all Americans.  (Audio, low: siren)

People running; a kid smiling.
CG: Today, America is turning the corner.  (Audio, low: voices, possibly kids at play)

Montage Bush, a couple of workers in hardhats.
CG: Rising to the challenge.

Close up of two people's faces.
CG: Safer, stronger.

Waving flag background.
CG: President Bush. Steady leadership in times of change. 

  

 
Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.

"Safer, Stronger" Spanish version.
30-second ad run starting March 4, 2004.

Maverick Media
 
 
 

 

 Presidente Bush: Soy George W. Bush y aprobé este mensaje. 

Graphics:
Enero del 2001: El Reto
Una economía en recesión.
La bolsa financiera en declive.
La bonanza de los punto com en bancarrota.

Y luego... un día trágico.
Fue una prueba de nuestro valor.

Hoy, nuestro país se mueve hacia delante.
Estamos más seguros. Más fuertes.
Con el Presidente Bush.
Vamos por buen camino. 

  
Notes and Observations:  Fleeting use of the 9/11 images in this ad prompted a minor storm of controversy.  International Association of Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger, who endorsed Sen. Kerry in September, issued a statement > saying he was "disappointed but not surprised that the President would try to trade on the heroism of those fire fighters in the September 11 attacks."  September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows >, a not-for-profit project of the Tides Center formed in July of 2002, also took up the cry.

Several media outlets raised pointed questions about the origins and nature of this controversy.  The Wall Street Journal in its March 5 editorial "The Politics of 9/11," stated that Democrats "are manufacturing this outrage for a political purpose...trying to define the debate in a way that keeps him from playing to his strengths.  Likewise the New York Post opined that "most of the outrage so far has been manufactured - churned out in bulk by the spewmeisters at Moveon.Org, related left-wing crank factories and a tabloid fellow traveler." The Weekly Standard ran a more detailed look at the flap in "How to Stage a Controversy." (March 22 issue).