Rep. James Buchanan is leaning hard into his fullback roots in a new Senate campaign launch video, casting himself as the kind of leader who lowers his shoulder, hits the gap and does the unglamorous work that keeps things moving.

The spot, titled “ Trenchwork ,” opens with Buchanan walking through fog on the Cardinal Mooney High School football field before cutting to grainy VHS footage of his playing days.

It features archival video of Cardinal Mooney’s legendary head coach Mike Dowling , who died in 2019, praising Buchanan as “a great strong full back” who is “tough,” “a great blocker inside,” and someone who has “breakaway speed when he does get through the line.” Buchanan wore No. 34 as a star fullback at Sarasota’s Cardinal Mooney from 1997 to 2000.

A four-star recruit

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