McDonnell makes his TV debut as governor in Virginia parks commercials

It's not election season again, but Bob McDonnell is back on the airwaves.

McDonnell is appearing in his first TV commercials since he was sworn in as Virginia's 71st governor in January. The pair of ads are for the state parks (a bit ironic since he faced a heap of criticism for suggesting Virginia close five of them to help offset a $4 billion budget shortfall).

In case you are wondering, like we were, why the governor is wearing a suit jacket for the commercials, it turns out he actually filmed his part way back in April 2009, when he was a candidate and appeared at one of Virginia's most venerable political traditions, the Shad Planking.

No, the people filming the commercials didn't know McDonnell would be elected governor all that long ago. They also got Democrats Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe on tape. Alas, Democrat Creigh Deeds, McDonnell's actual opponent in the general election, skipped the event altogether and never got filmed -- at least not there.

Check out the ads below: