November 10, 2007 in Nation/World

McCain negotiates loan for campaign

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Associated Press photo

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his 95-year-old mother, Roberta McCain, get ready for a live interview with Hard Ball’s Chris Mathews on Friday in a hotel room in Meredith, N.HAssociated Press
(Full-size photo)

WASHINGTON – Republican John McCain, climbing in polls but lagging in money, is negotiating a $3 million loan while some of his backers launch an independent advertising effort seemingly at odds with his years of fighting outside influence in campaigns.

The ad campaign, financed by contributions from undisclosed donors, drew a prompt rebuke from McCain.

“I condemn them,” he said Friday. “They are a violation of everything I believe in.”

Steps under way inside and outside McCain’s campaign indicate a degree of urgency as the first nominating contests draw near and he shows signs of resurgence after a dismal spring and summer.

Campaign aides said they hoped to finalize arrangements within days for a line of credit of about $3 million to help pay for expenses as well as for ads, mailings and other means of voter contact.

Separately, a newly created group was airing an ad Friday in South Carolina that portrays the Arizona senator and two of his congressional allies as “leaders who share our priorities” of supporting funds for U.S. troops and opposing pork-barrel spending.

Financed mainly by McCain backers, the Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America was created with the help of Republican admaker Rick Reed.

Reed is not new to independent advertising efforts during presidential campaigns. He was the media strategist who co-produced a series of ads in 2004 by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who questioned Democratic nominee John Kerry’s service in Vietnam. McCain, at the time, condemned those ads.

“I condemned them when they were swift boat ads. I condemn them now,” McCain said.

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