Valerie Plame, a former Central Intelligence Agency operative is running for Congress in New Mexico, and the new campaign ad she released on Monday quickly went viral on Twitter. Entitled “Undercover,” the 56-year-old mother of three drives shows off her CIA skills, impressively drives a Chevy amaro backwards on empty desert road in New Mexico.
The Democratic hopeful captioned the campaign video on YouTube, which was produced by Putnam Partners, “I’m running for Congress because we’re going backwards on national security, health care, and women’s rights. We need to turn our country around.” Plame, who’s real life story inspired the 2010 feature film Fair Game, which starred Naomi Watt as herself, and Sean Penn as her husband, has now delivered her own cinematic masterpiece to voters.
Plame is campaigning to take over the seat in New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District held by democratic representative Ben Ray Lujan, who is now running for a seat in the Senate. Narrating the campaign ad Plame says, “I was an undercover CIA operative.My assignment was preventing rogue states and terrorists from getting nuclear weapons. I come from Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. My dad was in the Air Force, my brother almost died in Vietnam. My service was cut short when my own government betrayed me.”
Images of former Vice-President Dick Cheney and his Chief-of-Staff, Scooter Libby. flash in the video, as Plame reminds viewers how Libby leaked her name out of revenge against her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, and her name was subsequently published by Robert Novak in The Washington Post.
Wilson was outspoken in his conviction that the Bush administration’s claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were false. Libby was convicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges in 2007, and while President George W. Bush commuted Libby’s sentence, in 2018, President Trump pardoned him, which meant no one was punished for ousting her identity.
“You’ve probably heard my name,” Plame says in the ad, walking in slo-motion, hair blowing in the wind. “And Mr. President, I have a few scores to settle.”
While Plame performs a complete 180-turn in her Camaro she adds, “I’m running for Congress because we’re going backwards on national security, health care and women’s rights. We need to turn our country around,” she said. And yes, the CIA really does teach us how to drive like this.”
Twitter Reacts to Plame’s Wild Campaign Ad
Now this was fun to make. And it’s a great story.
Valerie Plame for Congress — “Undercover”
While the comments section on her “Undercover” campaign video were disabled on YouTube, that didn’t stop Plame’s video from becoming one of the day’s trending topics on Twitter. Users online joked Plame was ready for her action hero movie series, while others commented on the incredible cinematography, and her fierce presence on screen.
Plame first announced she was running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in May, but with “Undercover,” it appears she’s finally getting people to stop and listen.
Now this is how you make a campaign ad. Wow.
Valerie Plame for Congress — “Undercover” #ValeriePlame
t.co/e4yVHnWats
Valerie Plame has a new campaign ad out and I definitely want to see this movie. t.co/57B71GyvXa
“You’ve probably heard my name”-Valerie Plame t.co/vhuBV6eSdL
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