Hillary Clinton to launch first campaign ads in Iowa and New Hampshire
New York, NY -- Hillary Clinton's first television ads will hit the airwaves this week, presenting the Democratic candidate for president as a lifelong fighter for children and families.
The 60-second spots will run in Iowa and New Hampshire for five weeks starting Tuesday. In Iowa, the ads will run in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, the state's two largest media markets, and in New Hampshire, the ads will be seen statewide. The price tag: $1 million in each state.
Clinton's first ad buy goes on the air just days after new reports suggested that Vice President Joe Biden is seriously considering whether to pursue the Democratic nomination. Sources familiar with Biden's thinking told CBS News that he is still thinking about it, and while some close to the vice president say it is unlikely, his chief of staff has been busy keeping Biden's options open. But Clinton aides said that these ads are not in response to a possible Biden bid, but instead a long-planned part of the campaign's strategy.
Appearing on CNN's Reliable Sources Sunday, Clinton's communications director Jennifer Palmieri said that she and the Clintons have "love" and "respect" for the vice president.
"We're going to let him make his decision," Palmieri said.
Campaign officials, including Palmieri, have repeatedly said that Clinton is readying for a competitive primary election. These ads aim to reintroduce Clinton to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, where Clinton has traveled often in the past few weeks. Clinton made her sixth trip to Iowa last weekend, followed by a one-day swing through New Hampshire, also her sixth trip there.
And although the former secretary of state remains a definitive frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, she has lost ground recently, as Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, has turned out thousands of supporters with his populist message. In a Quinnipiac poll released last week, 57 percent of voters said Clinton was not "honest and trustworthy."
The ads seek to show a different, less political, and more human side of Clinton to voters in these early states.
"We're going to make sure everyone knows who Hillary Clinton really is - who she fights for and what has motivated her lifelong commitment to children and families," said Robby Mook, Clinton's campaign manager.
One of the pair of ads (shown here) is named for Clinton's mother, Dorothy, and tells her story of resilience through hardship.
"I think about all the Dorothies all over America who fight for their families, who never give up," Clinton says in the ad, which features old family photos of the Rodhams. "That's why I'm doing this. That's why I've always done this. For all the Dorothies."
The second ad focuses on Clinton's career as a lawyer and in public service, and it includes one of Clinton's favorite campaign trail talking points: "a new title: 'grandma,'" in reference to the fact that Chelsea Clinton gave birth to a daughter, Charlotte, earlier this year.