Clinton Campaign Unveils First Television Ads In Iowa

By MIKE GLOVER Associated Press Writer

DES MOINES, IA. (AP) – Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled the first television ad of her presidential campaign Monday, a commercial set to air in Iowa where she is in a tight race with rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards.

The 60-second spot, which goes up Tuesday on Iowa television, intercuts scenes of Clinton interacting with voters and delivering a portion of her standard campaign speech in which she speaks of the challenges facing many working people.

“If you’re a family that is struggling and you don’t have health care, you are invisible to this president,” she says. “If you’re a single mom trying to find affordable child care so you can go to work, you’re invisible too.” Americans from all walks of life across our country may be invisible to this president but they’re not invisible to me and they won’t be invisible to the next president of the United States,” she says to applause.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who endorsed Clinton’s bid for the Democratic nomination after dropping out of the 2008 race, planned to unveil the new commercials at a news conference. The move intensifies Clinton’s campaign in Iowa, her weakest state, and comes on the eve of her latest campaign swing here. Iowa is slated to hold its caucuses on Jan. 14, though the date is certain to change after South Carolina Republicans moved up their primary last week.

Some state polls show Edwards leading while other surveys show Clinton, Obama and Edwards essentially tied. This is in contrast to national surveys and other state polls in which Clinton has a clear advantage. In May, Clinton’s deputy campaign manager wrote a memo urging her to bypass the Iowa caucuses to focus time and money on states where she’s faring better.

Obama is already airing commercials in the state, and the Democratic candidates are descending upon Iowa this week for photo-friendly appearances at the Iowa State Fair, a high-profile convention of the Iowa Federation of Labor and this weekend’s debate sponsored by ABC. The New York senator was campaigning Monday in Nevada, which follows Iowa in the primary calendar.

It was unclear how much Clinton would be spending on the ads. Ad buyers not connected with the Clinton campaign said her staff had not asked for available time slots or actually placed ads yet with television stations. That left rivals in the dark about her intentions and the extent of her planned advertising campaign.

— Associated Press Writer Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington contributed to this report.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)