Des Moines Register
08-13-07
Clinton ads portray her as responsive, caring
JENNIFER JACOBS AND JONATHAN ROOS
REGISTER STAFF WRITERS
The first Iowa television ad of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign
seeks to reinforce the image of a caring person who would use the presidency to
help needy people ignored by President Bush.
“As I travel around America, I hear from so many people who feel like they’re just
invisible to their government,” says Clinton in the ad, emphasizing one of her
campaign themes.
Clinton, a Democrat, singles out people needing health care and affordable child
care, as well as soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, contending they are
among the Americans who have been overlooked by the Republican incumbent.
“But they’re not invisible to me and they won’t be invisible to the next president of
the United States,” she says.
Former Gov. Tom Vilsack, co-chairman of Clinton’s national campaign, told
reporters at a screening of the ad that it gives TV viewers the opportunity to see
Clinton listening to people and connecting with them. Iowa supporters
“understand that this is the Hillary Clinton, not the one that has been vilified by
some," Vilsack said.
The ad will be shown across the state starting on Tuesday.
Even if Iowans say they hate political advertisements, candidates spend millions
on them because they’re the most effective way for politicians to reach a large
audience of voters, said Dianne Bystrom, an Iowa State University political
science professor.
Conventional political wisdom is that in Iowa, candidates should do more
personal campaigning - door to door, cafe to cafe, farm to farm, Bystrom said this
morning.
Typically, campaigns pay for TV ads in larger states such as Florida, which has a
fairly early primary, because candidates can’t make it door to door.
“But she has a lot of money so she can probably afford to test drive it here,”
Bystrom said. “Iowa has a small population, and a politically astute population, so
my guess is she wants to see how it plays in Iowa. She can tweak her message
before launching in larger markets.”
And Clintons’ strategists likely are hoping the ads will give her an edge over her
top competitors: former U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and U.S.
Barack Obama of Illinois.
Even though the polls show Clinton is leading nationally, “in the state of Iowa,
she’s in a dead heat with John Edwards and Barack Obama,” Bystrom said.
Democratic candidate Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, has posted
TV ads in Iowa already, as has Obama, Democrat Chris Dodd and Republican
candidate Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.
Romney’s ads first appeared in late April. At that point, he was little-known in
Iowa compared to his party's celebrity candidates, Rudy Giuliani, the former New
York mayor, and John McCain, an Arizona senator.
An Edwards ad in early May sought to enhance his support from war opponents.
In mid May, Dodd, a Connecticut senator, aired a TV ad which criticized his party
rivals in the Senate for not supporting a proposal to cut off money for the war in
Iraq.
Obama’s TV ad features a Harvard Law School professor and a Republican state
senator from Illinois dishing out accolades. The ad launched in late June.
“It’s a medium where candidates talk directly to the voters,” Bystrom said. “You
don’t have the media interpreting the ads like you would with the media
interpreting a debate or some other event.”
Richardson’s ads “are very clever and humorous,” she said. As one of the lowertier candidates, his strategy seems to be that even if he doesn’t reach Iowans
who aren’t coming to his events in person, he can reach them in their living
rooms.
The new ad can be seen at www.hillaryclinton.com.
Here's the text:
“Invisible”
HRC: As I travel around America, I hear from so many people who feel like
they’re just invisible to their government
VO: Hillary Clinton has spent her life standing up for people others don’t see
HRC: You know, if you’re a family that is struggling, and you don’t have health
care well you are invisible to this President
HRC: If you’re a single mom trying to find affordable child care so you can go to
work, well you’re invisible too
HRC: And I never thought I would see that our soldiers who serve in Iraq and
Afghanistan would be treated as though they were invisible as well
HRC: 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
HRC: I’m Hillary Clinton and I approve this message.