Ex-CIA operative releases spy-like campaign ad as she runs for congressional seat

Business Insider says it looks like a "Fast & Furious outtake"; the AV Club notes it's more reminiscent of the Bourne Identity franchise.

Whatever movie you might compare Valerie Plame's new campaign ad to, there's no denying the spot is memorable.

Plame, the ex-CIA operative whose identity was divulged by a Washington Post journalist, is running for the New Mexico congressional seat being vacated by Democrat Ben Ray Lujan, who's running for the U.S. Senate.

In the spot released Monday, 56-year-old Plame is seen kicking up dust in a Chevy Camaro down a long stretch of dirt road, an electric guitar-heavy song twanging in the background. She notes her father and brother's military ties, adding, "My service was cut short when my own government betrayed me," and calls her adopted home of New Mexico "one of the best places on Earth."

Her reason for running for Congress (and why she's driving the Camaro in reverse for the first part of the video): "because we're going backwards on national security, health care, and women's rights."

Plame does a 180 in the Camaro at the end of the clip, asserting, "We need to turn our country around."

Plame, a Trump critic and a Democrat, also references the president's April 2018 pardon of Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney's ex-chief of staff, whom Plame blames as the source of the leak that outed her.

"Mr. President, I've got a few scores to settle," she says at the end the video.

The AV Club calls the ad "cheesy in an endearing way," while the Week notes, "The metaphors are a little heavy-handed, but the driving is impressive and the timing is impeccable." Car and Driver's take? "This is how to do a campaign ad people will pay attention to."

Watch the full spot here. (Read more Valerie Plame stories.)

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