John McCain has released a new 12-minute documentary which effectively tells his story of courage, leadership and survival.

You can watch the video here via blip.tv or below via YouTube:

The video was produced and edited by Justin Germany of Campaign Solutions, who is well-known for his web-video work on the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign. However, after this piece, Justin may be getting a call from the History Channel. Good work Justin.

Regarding distribution of the video, I received an email from "Rick Davis, McCain Campaign" at 12:17 AM last night urging me to check out the video:

I'm emailing you tonight with a sneak peak at an inspirational new video called "Courageous Service". This video tells the story of John McCain's life of courage and dedication to our country. It features interviews with John McCain, stories of bravery from his fellow prisoners of war and much more.

"Courageous Service" is the story of a man singularly prepared to lead our nation who has sacrificed so much for the country he loves. I've known John McCain for over twenty years, and when I first watched this video, I got chills. His is a story of duty, faith and courage - and I hope everyone will have a chance to watch this incredible video about John McCain.

The links all push back to this micro-site on McCain's site, which surprisingly doesn't have an email capture. That leads me to believe that this push is more about communicating a message and less about collecting emails.

By using this well-produced bio piece, I think they're doing just that.