Barack Obama AP photo

Barack Obama (D) Senator, Illinois Born: 08/04/1961 Birthplace: Honolulu, HI Home: Chicago, IL Religion: United Church of Christ >> Website >> Forum >> Related Stories Coming Events

CONCORD — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama planned to air his first television ads in New Hampshire starting Tuesday, appealing to voters to believe his message of change.

In South Carolina, meanwhile, Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton began running a radio ad saying she has a record of looking out for all Americans. And Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney broadcast a radio ad in South Carolina and in Iowa opposing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York.

Obama’s New Hampshire ad expands on his message that went up last week in Iowa, and on 50 signs placed around New Hampshire during the weekend that asked, “Do You Believe?” They were replaced Sunday with signs featuring Obama’s campaign logo.

In the new TV ads, the first-term senator asks viewers to support his candidacy, plays up his non-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, focusing on a subject that rival John Edwards has emphasized.

Obama also takes a shot at Democratic front-runner Clinton, who voted to authorize the unpopular war in Iraq and has refused to apologize.

“I defied the politics of the moment and opposed the war in Iraq before it began,” the Illinois senator 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. Clinton and Edwards have been on television, as have New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd. Obama’s ads are trying to shake up polling that has kept him in a solid, although distant, second-place spot.

Clinton’s radio ad in South Carolina is running on more than two dozen predominantly black radio stations. Nearly half of the 2004 Democratic primary voters here were black.

“If you’re stuck on a rooftop or stranded in the Superdome during a hurricane, you’re invisible to this president even when you’re on CNN,” Clinton says in the 60-second ad, referring to New Orleans residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “Well, you are not invisible to me, and you should never be invisible to the president of the United States.”

In the ad, an announcer says Clinton “has spent her life standing up for people others don’t see” and has logged “35 years as a tireless advocate for children and families.”

The release of the ad comes on the same day Clinton added her fifth major union endorsement. International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers President John J. Flynn said Monday that Clinton “has the strength and experience to deliver the chance America needs.”

Romney’s anti-Ahmadinejad radio ad seeks to capitalize on the opposition the Iranian president’s visit has generated, especially among conservatives who view him as an advocate of terrorism. Ahmadinejad planned to speak and answer questions at a Columbia University forum Monday, followed by an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.

The ad reminds listeners that Romney, while governor of Massachusetts, opposed former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s 2006 visit to Harvard and refused to give Khatami a state police escort.

In the ad, which will also air in Florida later in the week, Romney says the United States should tighten sanctions against Iran. He says he called on the United Nations to withdraw the invitation to Ahmadinejad to speak to the General Assembly.

“What we should be doing is indicting Ahmadinejad under the Genocide Convention,” he said.