Rough-Edged Bush TV Ad Debuts in N.H.

George W. Bush’s campaign released the first of what his strategists have dubbed “crash ads” in New Hampshire on Tuesday, a 30-second television spot of the presidential candidate filmed and produced in less than 24 hours.

The ad, which depicts the Texas governor discussing his tax cut plan at a Manchester high school Monday, is filmed with a hand-held digital camera in an attempt to convey the quality of a “real-time spot” on the evening news, campaign aides said. It is scheduled to run near news broadcasts for the next couple of days.

“We’re not trying to trick people into thinking it’s news,” said Mark McKinnon, Bush’s media director.

“We believe that it communicates that the governor is there on the ground, in the trenches with his sleeves rolled up, working hard to win every vote,” McKinnon said.

The spot, which cost less than $1,000 to make, begins with the words “Bush campaign update. Manchester West High School. Dec. 20, 1999.” The rest of the ad shows jerky, rough footage of Bush, a candidate for the Republican nomination, answering a question about his tax plan while high school students listen intently.

“It’s important to have to cut the rates in order to keep the economy going,” Bush says. “If you like what you hear, endorse my plan, send a signal to Washington that a $480-billion tax cut over five years is what they want.”

The ad ends, “To be continued . . .” Once campaign officials are comfortable putting a spot together so quickly, McKinnon said, they plan to run similar “crash ads” during the two weeks that Bush is scheduled to campaign in New Hampshire during January. New Hampshire will host the nation’s first presidential primary Feb. 1.

“If it works, we’ll try to do it every time,” he said.

The rapid-fire production of the television ad highlights how the availability of new technology is shaping the presidential campaign. It also demonstrates a new trend as campaign commercials try to make their candidates appear homespun and not overly packaged with slick television images.

The Bush spot resembles ones being run by Democrat Bill Bradley that show raw footage of the former senator speaking about his platform in town hall-style meetings.

“This may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it could be people getting carried away with technology,” said Don Sipple, a GOP strategist who cautioned that he had not viewed the latest ads yet. “Voters are pretty wise as far as their core concerns and what they are looking for in a presidential campaign. They tend to see through a lot of stuff.”

Monday, Bush indicated that he plans to step up his campaign against his nearest GOP rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Bush told the Boston Globe that he will soon begin to highlight differences with the Arizona senator over tax cuts, education and campaign finance.

“I haven’t started drawing the distinctions yet,” said Bush.

McCain responded Tuesday that there is nothing wrong with comparing records as long as it doesn’t turn nasty. He noted that Bush, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, earlier had promised not to go negative and said, “I’ll be sad if he broke his word.”

Times staff writer Maria L. La Ganga and Associated Press contributed to this story.