'Farmer' Hillary TV Ads Begin

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled the first television ad of her presidential campaign Monday, a commercial targeting voters 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.

[See Hillary's new ad in full by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ2_eoL3TPo]

"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.

Images of Clinton walking in an Iowa farm field, talking to young mothers, children and seniors and addressing a crowd at a campaign event fill the screen.

The Clinton campaign spent roughly $360,000 to run a moderate level of ads in Iowa over the course of a week and a half.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who endorsed Clinton after dropping his own bid for the Democratic nomination, unveiled the ad at a news conference.

"This is the Hillary Clinton, not the one who has been vilified by some, but the Hillary Clinton who cares deeply about the people most in need," Vilsack said.

The ad is aimed at softening Clinton's image. While polls have shown her running strongly, her negatives remain high and the spot is designed to introduce her to voters.

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.

Other candidates have been airing commercials in the state over the past few months, with Obama spending $1.15 million, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson $1.55 million and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd $739,000.

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 criticized the Bush administration Monday as she appealed to rural voters in her first venture into the Nevada desert.

"We're going to end all these no-bid contracts, we're going to make things more transparent, we're going to get rid of all these cronies that came to Washington to work in the Bush administration," Clinton told a group of raucous supporters at a town hall-style rally. "To do all this, it's going to take reforming Washington."

Clinton spoke to crowd of about 2,500 at a roller-skating rink in Pahrump, Nev., this historically conservative pocket 60 miles west of Las Vegas.

"Boy, we could have solar power all the way from Las Vegas to Pahrump," Clinton said.

The desert is home to wild horses and burros, an occasional brothel (prostitution is legal in the county around Pahrump) and usually conservative voters with strong libertarian leanings.