CONCORD, N.H. (AP)- Presidential hopeful Barack Obama planned to air his first television ads in New Hampshire starting Tuesday.
In the new TV ads, the first-term senator asks viewers to support his candidacy and believe in his message of change. It also plays up his un-Washington experience and tries to allay concerns about his relative lack of experience.
“In 20 years of public service, I’ve brought Democrats and Republicans together to solve problems that touch the lives of everyday people. I’ve taken on the drug and insurance companies and won,” Obama says into the camera, tapping into the frustrations rival John Edwards has employed in his campaign.
Obama’s ad continues, taking a shot at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who voted to authorize the unpopular war in Iraq but has refused to recant that decision.
“I defied the politics of the moment and opposed the war in Iraq before it began,” Obama says. “This is Barack Obama. I approve this message to ask you to believe, not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington. I’m asking you to believe in yours.”
Obama is the last of the top-polling candidates to go on the air in New Hampshire. Top rivals Clinton and Edwards have been on television, as have Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Chris Dodd. Obama’s ads are trying to shake up polling that has kept him in a solid, although distant, second-place spot in recent months.
The ad also echoes Obama’s oft-repeated line about being a hope-monger.
Instead of the hearty laugh that follows it on the campaign trail, Obama tells viewers it’s about the disconnect between himself and “the cynics in Washington.”
“You see, they don’t believe we can actually change politics and bring an end to decades of division and deadlock,” Obama says in the 60-second ad. “They don’t believe we can limit the power of lobbyists who block our progress, or that we can trust the American people with the truth. And that’s why we face the same problems and hear the same promises every four years.”
The campaign would not reveal details of the ad buy.