Debra Bartoshevich

Debra Bartoshevich is a 41-year-old emergency room nurse from Wisconsin featured in an August 2008 national television ad produced by the John McCain presidential campaign. In the ad, Bartoshevich declares herself "a proud Hillary Clinton Democrat" who will vote for John McCain, rather than Barack Obama, in the 2008 presidential election.
On May 4, 2008, Bartoshevich was one of four people from Racine County, Wisconsin selected by a local Democratic caucus as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. The Racine, Wisconsin Journal Time quotes her, "in a speech before the votes were cast" telling other delegates "I support her because of her universal health care plan...I see the devastating consequences of diseases on the uninsured."
Bartoshevich can be seen on YouTube telling a television interviewer that she was contacted by the McCain campaign "approximately three minutes" after Hillary Clinton's June 5 speech suspending her campaign for the presidency. Describing herself as a "member of the Wisconsin Democrat Party" who has "always voted Democrat", but a "new person" at the caucus, she told the interviewer that when she signed a pledge to support the Democratic nominee, she believed the paper was just a sign-in sheet.
On Friday, June 13, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel's website reported Bartoshevich's public affiliation with the McCain campaign. She told the Journal Sentinel that her sister had "encouraged" her to sign up as a supporter with “Citizens for McCain,” an arm of the campaign targeting Democrats and independents. Bartoshevich added that it was the McCain campaign, not she herself, who then notified a reporter. Bartoshevich told Associated Press writer James A. Carlson that her sister was a McCain supporter who had served in Iraq. In a later statement to Wisconsin Democratic Party leaders, however, Bartoshevich claimed that it was in fact her sister who had put her name onto the McCain campaign website.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party voted unanimously to replace her as a delegate to the Denver convention, citing a Democratic National Committee rule that requires delegates to support the party’s nominee. Bartoshevich's delegate slot was given to another Clinton supporter, Marilyn Nemeth, who had received the next-highest number of caucus votes.
According to the Associated Press, McCain himself traveled to Racine in July, where he met with Bartoshevich before introducing her and her family to a campaign gathering of about 1,000 people.
On August 25, the new ad (called "Debra") was launched. A second McCain ad launched the same day (called "Passed Over") also urged Hillary Clinton's followers to switch allegiance to McCain.
Also on August 25, Bartoshevich was made the central figure of a press conference sponsored by the Republican National Committee and hosted by Carly Fiorina. Bartoshevich, who is pro-choice, was asked about McCain's views on Roe v. Wade. She responded by saying, "Going back to 1999, John McCain did an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle saying that overturning Roe v. Wade would not make any sense, because then women would have to have illegal abortions". This raised questions, because McCain's position was that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. In the presidential debate held on October 15, McCain reiterated this point.

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